The Trade
by The Moron Scribe
Summary: Kurt rejected Blaine during "Original Song", but the two of them remained best friends. Kurt and Sam got together during "Rumors", and Blaine never transferred to McKinley. Now, Sebastian Smythe is at Dalton, terrorizing Blaine, his only competition. When Blaine can't handle the harassment, he turns to Sam for comfort, creating more drama than he'd care for.
1. Chapter 1

_**I ship these four in, like, every possible combination. So...I decided to channel my own internal shipping chaos into a story... This happened kind of spontaneously. So. We'll see where it goes.**_

* * *

_"We built this city," _Sam sang under his breath, casually playing an air guitar as he walked rhythmically down the sidewalk. _"We built this city on rock and roll."_

Kurt rolled his eyes, his arms crossed as he suppressed his smile.

Sam turned to him, singing right in Kurt's face. "_We built this city_."

"You know, I could do an entire case study on why minors shouldn't be allowed to buy energy drinks based on this moment alone," Kurt said sharply. "You're not allowed to have any more caffeine. When we get in there, I'm ordering you a hot chocolate."

Sam's lips curled into a goofy smile as they approached the entrance to The Lima Bean. "Come on. You can't turn the radio to 80s nostalgia hour and not expect the songs to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day."

"I'm not the one who refused to change the station!" Kurt said, holding his hands up defensively.

Sam laughed, grabbing the door and holding it open. "Well. Forgive me for wanting to get a little nostalgic."

"Sam! You were born in 1995!" Kurt laughed melodically, walking into the shop. Sam followed him in, shrugging.

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine, who was waiting at a table, having saved them seats. He realized Blaine had a whole tray of drinks in front of him.

"Hey! I ordered for you guys!" He called animatedly to them. Sam grinned and moved toward the table.

"Yay! Coffee!" He said, taking the cup that Blaine held out for him.

Kurt went and took his seat across from Blaine. "He drank an entire Monster an hour ago and now he's impossible to deal with."

"Aw, come on," Sam laughed, blowing into his coffee to cool it down. "I'm totally adorable."

Kurt couldn't help but smile tiredly. He turned to Sam and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Yes, you are. That doesn't mean I'm going to condone you being high in public."

"I'm not...!" Sam started to defend himself, but shook his head, realizing the playful gleam in his boyfriend's eye. Kurt laughed, and he and Sam leaned toward each other and exchanged a light peck on the lips.

Blaine watched the two of them, resting his chin in his hand. He sighed dreamily. "I want what you guys have."

Kurt relaxed a bit, a pleasant smile coming over his face. He looked over to Sam, and lovingly caught his eye. "You'll have it someday..." He promised.

"No," Blaine huffed. "It's completely hopeless. Maybe I should just get cats."

"Blaine, come on! You're being ridiculous," Kurt said impatiently.

"Yeah, Blaine," Sam agreed. "You're a total catch. There's gotta be some guy at Dalton who wants a piece of that action."

Blaine looked quickly at Sam, who usually didn't have much to say in these situations. Actually, it had taken him and Blaine a while to get comfortable around each other. When Sam first started dating Kurt, he pretended not to pay attention when Kurt and Blaine started in on one of their BFF talks. He hadn't wanted to intrude. Lately, though, Sam had apparently started living under the philosophy that any friend of Kurt's was a friend of his.

"Right..." Blaine nodded uncertainly.

"Just have a little confidence," Sam urged dramatically.

Blaine sighed, stirring his coffee bitterly. "Well, that's easier said than done."

Kurt frowned, watching his friend and feeling a little guilty. "Blaine, it'll get better," He said gently, reaching forward and touching Blaine's hairy fore-arm.

Blaine nodded, unable to look Kurt in the eye for fear that he would completely lose it if he did.

* * *

It had been a bittersweet moment for Kurt; the moment he realized that he wasn't in love with Blaine.

It was the morning after Rachel's party. Kurt woke up forgetting who had fallen asleep beside him. He sat up and tiredly stared down at his friend, suddenly remembering the events of the night before.

"Who wants to play spin the bottle?" Rachel had cried out.

Kurt saw it as an opportunity. Granted, Blaine was drunk and any contact their lips made ultimately wouldn't count for anything, but Kurt still hoped desperately for a chance to know what it would feel like.

When it came time to spin the bottle, he breathed deeply in anticipation. Sure enough, his spin landed on Blaine.

Kurt froze, his heart racing. Was this really how he wanted his first kiss with Blaine to go? His quick change of heart left him panicked. There wasn't really a way for him to pass. He turned to Blaine and tried to appear relaxed. Blaine crawled toward him, a hungry look in his eye.

Kurt had no choice. He leaned in, and the two of them pressed their lips together. Blaine grabbed the back of Kurt's neck, and came at him more forcefully, and Kurt had to admit that even drunk Blaine seemed to have a good sense of what he was doing. It felt nice; as nice as Kurt expected it to, but something was missing. Maybe it was because it was just a game, and all of his friends were watching, but it didn't feel special.

That was it. Blaine pulled away and sat back in his spot as the rest of the New Directions applauded them. Kurt was disappointed that the moment had passed so quickly. Blaine cast him a dopey smile, and Kurt reciprocated, hoping that he'd someday have a chance to kiss Blaine again, under different circumstances. Maybe he could bring up the kiss after Blaine sobered up, and ask him if it meant anything.

In the four months since they'd met, Blaine had become one of the best friends Kurt had ever had. He knew that Blaine felt the same way about him. "I don't want to screw this up," Blaine had told him. Although it hurt at first, Kurt was beginning to understand. The more he thought about bringing up the kiss, the more he realized what a horrible idea he was. By the time he was sitting in bed the next morning, Blaine dreaming beside him, he realized that he was completely content he was with his decision not to.

That's when it hit him: he was happy with his friendship with Blaine. And upon realizing this, Kurt was suddenly unhappy.

He had actually thought that he was in love. That was what bothered him. Blaine had shown him kindness. He was the first decent-looking, openly gay guy Kurt had ever associated with. Naturally, Kurt had loved the idea of falling in love with him, and now that he had gotten to know Blaine, and now that he had kissed him and evaluated the situation, he realized that he wasn't in love with Blaine. He just wasn't. And he wasn't ever going to be.

Suddenly, it was like Kurt had taken off a pair of goggles. He thought of all the annoying things that Blaine did that he had been choosing to overlook: how he'd told Kurt not to try so hard to get noticed during Kurt's first week at Dalton; how he'd been so stubborn when all of the Warblers told him that "When I Get You Alone" was not a good song selection for The Gap Attack; how he refused to leave the house without a disgusting amount of gel in his hair. Sure, these qualities were mildly endearing, and Kurt didn't mind having them in a friend. But in a boyfriend? No. Blaine wasn't Kurt's type at all.

After thinking it through, Kurt realized that he wasn't losing anything at all. At first, he experienced a wave of disappointment. He really had thought that he was in love. He thought he was finally at the point in his life where his favorite Ballads made sense to him. But it had been a false alarm, just like it had been with Finn. For real love, he'd have to wait. Little did he know at the time that it would only be a few more months.

After Kurt got passed the disappointment, however, he experienced a wave of relief, and he suddenly realized just how exhausting being in love with his best friend had been.

"Blaine," He said, nudging the sleeping boy. "Wake up."

"No."

"No. Wake up. You have to get out of here before my Dad sees you."

Blaine blinked and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Wait...where am I?" He looked at Kurt, extremely confused. "Oh god. Did we do something together last night?"

"We might have kissed a little bit," Kurt nodded embarrassedly. "I'll forget it if you will."

Blaine smiled embarrassedly, falling back onto the pillows. "If you let me sleep five more minutes, it's a deal."

* * *

Several weeks later, Blaine suggested that Kurt sing a duet with him for Regionals. Kurt was flattered, but wasn't quite sure why Blaine was doing it. It seemed a little weird that Blaine was finally paying attention to Kurt now that Kurt had given up. Sure, Kurt was sad about the death of Pavarotti, but it felt like more than just a pity duet. Blaine had been looking at Kurt differently ever since he'd sang "Blackbird", or maybe it was ever since he'd told Blaine that he got too many solos. Either way, the looks were making Kurt uneasy, and when Blaine came into the common room one afternoon to "practice", Kurt knew he had to set things straight.

"Why did you pick me to sing this song with?"

Blaine hesitated, blushing. "Kurt...there is a moment when you say to yourself, 'oh, there you are, I've been looking for you forever'. Watching you do Blackbird this week...that was a moment for me...about you..."

Kurt felt a wave of nausea pass over him. "Blaine. Stop." He spat out.

Color rushed to Blaine's cheeks. "What...?" He asked timidly.

"Just stop," Kurt replied, panicked. "You said we were friends..."

"We are friends!" Blaine replied, hurt showing in his voice.

"You said you didn't want to screw this up!"

Blaine clenched his teeth, turning his head and staring at a pile of rhinestone in the middle of the table.

"Blaine, I'm so sorry," Kurt continued compassionately. "It's just...you aren't thinking, are you?"

"I am..." Blaine said quietly.

"Okay, fine." Kurt collected himself. "Maybe I should try to hear you out. Where exactly is this coming from?"

"I don't know..." Blaine shrugged.

"Look," Kurt said calmly. "I'm not going to deny that I can really deliver a ballad, and I'm sorry if the emotions that my performance stirred up were a little too intense for you..."

"No!" Blaine interrupted, waving his hand in front of him, frustrated. "Kurt. Listen to me... I realized how much you mean to me; how much your opinion means to me. When you didn't like 'Misery', I felt horrible..."

"So naturally, you must be in love with me," Kurt teased dryly.

"You're being cold," Blaine accused flatly.

"You're being unreasonable!" Kurt snapped. "You're trying to seduce me to make yourself feel better about the fact that I insulted a song you sang!"

"That's not what I said!" Blaine stood up quickly. "Forget it. It's not even about the song. I just thought I liked you for a minute, but don't worry. You quickly changed my mind!"

Blaine crossed his arms in front of his chest, fuming stilly. Kurt watched him. The moment had gotten too heated. It almost felt surreal. However, Kurt realized that this was the most real he and Blaine had ever been with each other.

"Look at us, Blaine," He said finally, breaking the long silence. "We're a horrible fit, like Julia Roberts and Dermont Mulroney in 'My Best Friend's Wedding'."

"What are you talking about?" Blaine grumbled.

"Well, they dated, but then they broke up and became best friends, but then he gets engaged to Cameron Diaz..." Kurt preached. "...and she suddenly decides she can't live without him, so she goes to stop the wedding but eventually realizes that Cameron Diaz is the one he really belongs with, and even though she's his best friend and they really do care about each other, nothing can change the fact that they just don't work as a couple..."

"So, basically, you're trying to resolve this argument with the moral from the end of a rom com?" Blaine's eyes narrowed, completely in disbelief.

"Absolutely." Kurt replied nervously. "I mean, it still ends happily. She realizes that her gay boyfriend is never going to leave her, even if she's a gigantic attention whore."

"Kurt..." Blaine was not amused.

Kurt took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just really don't think you're thinking clearly."

Blaine fell silent again. Kurt watching him, trying to read him. He knew there was a chance that he'd been too mean, that their friendship would never recover.

"Okay..." Blaine finally said. "We should just practice our song then."

"Yes. So, are we okay?" Kurt asked him.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I guess we're going to have to be."

Kurt smiled uncomfortably. "Great..."

* * *

Things had remained awkward between Kurt and Blaine for a few days, but by the time their "Regionals Survival Party" rolled around, they were back to being as chummy as they'd always been. Their loss had been hard on them, and ended up putting things in perspective. "At least we still have each other," Blaine had told Kurt. That's when he knew that their argument was water under the bridge.

The party was in full swing. Blaine and Kurt shared a couch cushion in the Dalton common room, watching Trent and Thad square off in "Dance Dance Revolution". Suddenly, they heard a commotion near the room's entrance.

"Pizza!" Jeff's voice rang out. Kurt and Blaine turned around, almost instinctively.

"Is that...?" Blaine began, catching a glimpse of the Pizza guy, whose blond hair was sticking out under his Italian Flag baseball cap.

"...Sam!" Kurt finished the sentence, his face lighting up. He jumped off the couch, and ran over to help with the pizzas, if only as an excuse to say hi to his old friend.

"I had no idea you were a working boy," Kurt told Sam charmingly. "On top of Glee Club and football. You must have excellent time management skills. I'm impressed."

Sam forced a smile in return. There was something insincere about it, though. "I do what I can," Sam said quietly. As Kurt got a closer look at Sam's face, he realized that Sam had massive dark circles under his eyes. He even seemed to carry himself differently then when Kurt had last seen him up close. He had far less energy.

"Just make sure you give yourself time to sleep..." He tried teasingly.

Sam pressed his lips together, nodding as he took a wad of money from Wes. He pocketed the cash, and then looked back to Kurt, whose eyes were now glowing with concern.

"Sam..." Kurt started in again. "Is everything okay?"

Sam stood up a little straighter, clearly trying to give the illusion of strength. "Everything's fine. Money's been tight at home, that's all."

"Okay..." Kurt shrugged, trying to brush it off as easily as Sam seemed to expect him to. "Well, keep in touch, okay? Let me know if there's anything I can help you with."

Sam seemed a bit surprised by the offer. "Yeah, okay..." He said dismissively.

"I mean it!" Kurt insisted, remembering how Sam had stood up to Karofsky for him right before he transferred to Dalton. "It's not like you've never helped me before."

Sam smiled again at the memory, this time sincerely. "Thanks, Kurt. I'll see you around."

Sam left the Dalton common room, casting Kurt one more appreciative grin before he left. Kurt turned and made his way over to the table where the Pizzas sat, ready to eat. He got in line behind Blaine, unable to get his mind off Sam.

* * *

"You're alone..." Kurt observed a month later as he stepped into the motel room that the Evans family had been inhabiting for the past few weeks.

"My parents take the kids to the library most nights." Sam told him. "There's more for them to do there."

Kurt nodded, not sure how to react to that.

Kurt had been back at McKinley for a week. His first day back, he'd approached Sam, asking how he'd been holding up. That's when Sam had confided in Kurt about the truth of his situation. His heart went out to Sam. He wanted to do whatever he could to help him.

Kurt looked down at his hands, remembering the duffel bag he'd carried in. "I brought you some old clothes. I'm not sure what kind of stuff you're looking for. It's supposed to be cold tomorrow and I didn't know if you had a jacket or anything..."

Sam laughed quietly. Kurt was instantly embarrassed. Maybe the clothes were a bad idea.

"I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you..." Sam finally said, getting ahold of himself.

"Then what are you laughing at?" Kurt asked, genuinely curious.

Sam shook his head at Kurt, searching for the right words. "You're just... something else..."

Kurt cocked his head, trying to read Sam. As far as he knew, Sam was totally straight. There was no reason to assume that Sam's appreciative compliment meant anything more than what it was on the surface.

"Well, thank you." Kurt replied breathily. "I think the same of you."

"Do you want to sit down?" Sam asked him, gesturing to the bed. "We can watch some TV or something. I mean... I don't want to make you leave when you just got here."

"Yeah. Sure." Kurt nodded, going to lower himself cautiously onto the foot of the creaky motel mattress. Sam flicked on the TV, which played some old "Gilligan's Island" rerun.

"What channel should we watch?"

"Whatever you want," Kurt shrugged passively. Honestly, he just wanted to talk to Sam; to see how he'd been doing. "This show is fine. I love old sitcoms."

Sam's face lit up. He beamed at Kurt. "No way! So do I!"

Kurt was, once again, impressed. Sam came and joined him on the bed.

"I've been watching a lot of these shows..." Sam admitted. "Something about them makes me feel better. No matter how crazy things get, it always turns out alright at the end of the thirty minutes."

Kurt cast Sam a concerned glance. "Things are going to be alright in real life too..."

Sam turned to Kurt, so that their faces were just inches apart. "You seem so sure of that..." Sam said with a crooked smile.

It was a strangely intimate moment, unlike anything Kurt had ever experienced before. "I am sure," Kurt shrugged, working hard to remain poised.

Sam laughed again, softly this time. "I can really talk to you, you know? I don't know what it is..."

Kurt was, for once, lost for words. "Oh."

"It's just that..." Sam continued bashfully. "I never feel like you're going to judge me."

"That's cause I'm not going to," He assured Sam. They really were sitting close to one another... Kurt suddenly felt uncomfortable, but in really good way.

Then, it happened. The two of them were suddenly kissing. Neither of them really knew how it started, or who initiated it. All either of them knew was that in that moment, it felt completely right.

* * *

"It'll get better..."

Now, it was October, and Kurt and Sam were sitting in front of Blaine at The Lima Bean, being nauseatingly adorable, and trying to assure Blaine that his life didn't suck nearly as much as he thought it did. Blaine grabbed his coffee from the table in front of him and sipped it, miserable.

"You've been in such a mood lately," Kurt suddenly pointed out. "Is there something else bothering you?"

There were a number of things bothering Blaine, but this was the first time in weeks Kurt had actually taken the time to ask him about it. Ever since Sam's parents moved to Kentucky back in July, and Kurt had begged his father to let Sam live in their basement, Blaine had been seeing considerably less of his supposed best friend.

"I'm fine," Blaine lied.

"You're lying." Kurt said simply.

Blaine looked up at him timidly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, come on..." An unexpected voice chimed in. The three of them looked to see a tall, confident boy quickly approaching the table. "Maybe if you vented to your little boyfriend, you could get rid of those hideous frown lines."

Sam immediately grabbed Kurt's hand, as if to show the taller boy whose boyfriend Kurt really was.

Blaine glared at the tall boy, "What are you doing here, Sebastian?"

"Can't a guy get a cup of coffee without you questioning his motives?" Sebastian asked smoothly, shrugging with an evil gleam in his eyes.

Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Kurt looked Sebastian up and down, trying to figure out what his relationship to Blaine was.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Sebastian asked meanly. He smirked at Sam and Kurt. "Blaine and I are on the Warblers together. He's my only real competition for solos, to be completely honest."

"Trust me," Blaine sat up a little straighter in his chair, trying to exhibit at least a small amount of confidence. "There's no competition."

"I've been telling him..." Sebastian shrugged, locking eyes with Kurt first, then Sam. "All I need is a few more months, and that rag-tag council will quickly forget that he ever had seniority."

Blaine rolled his eyes, blinking angrily down at his coffee.

"Oh, come on, Blaine," Sebastian cooed. "I told you! We can still be friends! I'll even throw in some benefits."

"Go to hell, Sebastian," Blaine snapped.

Kurt and Sam both jumped a bit at Blaine's sudden outburst. They suddenly caught wind of how serious Blaine's hatred for this guy was. Sam suddenly rose out of his chair.

"Get lost, okay?" He said intimidatingly. Sebastian froze, careful to keep his smirk pasted on as he looked Sam up and down.

"Well, you certainly look like you could do some damage to this pretty little face of mine," Sebastian said cooly. "I'll see you in rehearsal, Blainey boy..."

With that, Sebastian slowly turned and walked away. Kurt turned to Blaine, shocked.

"Is that what the problem is?" He asked incredulously. "Has that guy been giving you trouble?"

Blaine, more than ever, didn't want to get into it. "It's fine." He told Kurt, then looked gratefully to Sam. "Thank you for being...you know...threatening."

Sam's face broke into another crooked smile. "I try..."


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt held his breath as he walked down the hall, approaching the bulletin board. He could see people crowding around it: Mike and Tina; Santana and Brittany. Everyone seemed happy. There weren't any tears...yet.

This was it; the moment of truth. Sure, Kurt didn't think that anyone else had even auditioned for Tony, but what if someone had? What if there was some totally random, non-glee guy who had auditioned for the show and was better than him? Kurt didn't know if he'd be able to handle the humiliation.

Before Kurt could approach the board, however, Tina spun around to face him.

"Congratulations!" She squealed, throwing her arms around him. His heart was racing.

"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked, just to make sure.

"Don't look so surprised," Santana said to him. "You're the only one at this school who's crazy enough to want to play opposite of Berry."

Kurt broke free of Tina and moved toward the bulletin board, needing to see the list for himself. Sure enough, there was his name. He was cast as Tony.

"Somebody pinch me," He said quickly and quietly.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his middle. "I was thinking about it..." Sam spoke lowly into his ear so that no one else could hear him. "Your ass looks fantastic in those jeans."

Kurt turned around, grinning wildly. "Stop it," He said, smacking Sam lightly on the arm.

Sam tightened his hold on Kurt, and took him in a spontaneous kiss.

"Get a room, boys!" Santana cried loudly, making a spectacle of them. Kurt and Sam pried themselves apart and cast a mutual smile at their friend.

Kurt had been worried when he and Sam first got together. More than anything, he had just wanted to have a normal relationship, where he could kiss his boyfriend in the hallway before class without worrying what anyone thought. He'd expressed some worry to Sam, when they first became official, that they'd both get trouble from the jocks if they took things too public.

"Kurt, I've wasted so much time" Sam had told him. He then proceeded to explain how his family's money troubles had effected him; how they had caused his priorities to shift drastically; how he just didn't give a shit about his reputation anymore.

"Besides," He'd continued. "I'm, like, totally ripped. If anyone tries to mess with me, I'll punch them in the face."

"Sam..." Kurt had scolded lightly. "You're not going to punch anyone."

Sam's logic turned out to be surprisingly reasonable. At first, people were shocked. Sam was so masculine, and so popular. No one expected him to be gay, so they hadn't had time to prepare their reactions. Also, Sam and Kurt were so confident; so unapologetic about their relationship, that people quickly realized that they weren't going to be able to tear them down. No one wanted to waste their energies.

Even Karofsky had reacted surprisingly well. He approached Kurt during the post-prom party at Rachel's house. He and Santana were fresh off their victory as king and queen, and he fumbled with his plastic crown as he spoke.

"It's funny..." He told Kurt. "We thought we needed to create the bully whips to make it safe for you to come back, but really all you needed was a hot boyfriend."

Kurt's face heated up. "I really did appreciate it," Kurt replied. "The bully whips, I mean. I don't think Sam and I would be together if you hadn't asked me to come back. Funny how things work out, right?"

Karofsky nodded, his face falling. He breathed unsteadily as he spoke again, "Look, I wanted to apologize for everything that I did to you. I'm so sorry...I was just so scared..."

"I know," Kurt said gently. "Look, it's in the past. We don't have to talk about it tonight. It's prom night. We should be having fun with our dates."

Karofsky nodded solemnly, then looked up and forced a smile. "I should have known things would turn out this way after Sam tried to beat me up. You guys seem really good together."

Kurt laughed. "Yeah. We all should have known..."

Karofsky still hadn't come out of the closet, but Kurt knew that he and Sam's example had helped to calm him down a bit. It seemed helpful for Karofsky to think that he wouldn't even be the only openly gay player on the football team.

"Did you see?" Sam asked Kurt as they stood in front of the "West Side Story" cast list. "I'm a jet. We're part of the same gang."

Kurt grinned, looking back to the list. He noticed that Karofsky was listed as one of the sharks.

"This show is going to be epic!" Mike exclaimed, several feet away.

Kurt beamed. He couldn't agree more.

* * *

Blaine smiled softly as he read his latest text from Kurt: _"Bagged the lead. Sam's in the chorus. Lima Bean tonight to celebrate."_

He weakly typed out a response. _"I told you it would happen:P. I'll be there." _

"Well, you look happy," Sebastian's voice interrupted him. He hit send, sighing heavily as he lowered his phone. "Which one are you texting? Is it the blond one or the one I thought was a flat-chested lesbian?"

"Neither," Blaine mumbled. He was just coming into the Warblers' choir room for rehearsal.

"Who else would text you?" Sebastian asked. Blaine glared at him. "I mean,_ two _public school friends is already pushing it. Anyone else you'd be talking to is in this room, right? After all, these guys are your best friends..."

Not having the energy to try to decode the angle that Sebastian was playing from on this particular day, Blaine ignored him and went to take his seat on one of the leather couches. He got about halfway to the couch before he realized that something was different. No one besides Sebastian had greeted him when he came in. He glanced around the room. Maybe he was just paranoid. People surely had other things to worry about. They couldn't be ignoring him intentionally, could they?

His eyes landed on Thad and Trent, who were whispering to each other in the corner. He could swear that Trent looked right at him, if only for a split second, with a dark look in his eyes. Blaine was suddenly nervous. He sat down and cautiously watched the council take their places at the table in the front of the room.

"Is everyone here?" Trent asked loudly, scanning the room. "Good. We can start."

David banged his gavel (the same one Wes had used the year before), a solemn expression on his face. "Warblers, I'm afraid we have a serious matter to discuss."

"Yes," Trent jumped in with an angry enthusiasm. "It seems that someone in this room hasn't been faithful to the Warbler code of honor."

No one was looking at Blaine. At first, he took this as a good sign, then he realized how deliberate it was. Every single boy in the room had his eyes fixed on the floor.

Sebastian suddenly stood up, and Blaine's stomach dropped. He didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but he knew that he was screwed.

"Now, Blaine, I told them that we should be fair about this," Sebastian said through his subtle smirk. "So, why don't you tell them your side of the story."

"What are you talking about?" Blaine asked, trying hard not to panic. He was used to being in the spotlight, but that didn't make it any easier to be put on the spot.

"Blaine, I know what I saw," Sebastian insisted. "You were sitting there with those boys from McKinley, feeding them the details of our Sectionals set."

"What!?" Blaine cried. "That's ridiculous! I didn't do that! We're not even competing against The New Directions at Sectionals! Besides, you guys know Kurt, he's not going to try to play dirty."

"Blaine..." Thad spoke calmly. Blaine cringed. He needed people to stop saying his name in that condescending tone. One more time and he was going to snap. "...One of the most exciting things about a competition show is that people don't know what to expect. We can't just go around telling the entire show choir world what we're doing in advance!"

Blaine sunk in his seat, unable to think of another defense. It seemed useless. The Warblers had made up their minds about where he stood. It was monumentally stupid, he thought. Sure, maybe he'd told Kurt and Sam what songs he might sing, but it's not like Sebastian had actually been around for that conversation. His accusations were based on guesses, and totally unfair.

"We expect more sense, especially from our upper class-man members ," Trent was lecturing. Blaine sat there miserably, nodding, but no longer paying any real attention.

"Now, we know it was just Kurt," David jumped in. "And for that, we'll cut you some slack. I just want to remind you, and all the Warblers actually, what's expected. This can't happen again."

Blaine nodded one more time. It seemed like the lecture was over, and he was more than happy to move on.

"So, moving on to our updated set list," Thad said. "We had a recommendation from our newest member that I think you're all going to like. Sebastian...?" Blaine ground his teeth as Sebastian walked to the front of the room, clapping his hands once.

"Alright!" He said, lifting his eyebrows joyously. "Let me show you guys what I've got!"

* * *

Blaine was a mess when he showed up at the Lima Bean. It almost hurt him to see Kurt and Sam at the table, when he felt so pessimistic about the possibility that he'd ever be even as remotely happy as the two of them seemed to be.

"Hey!" Kurt exclaimed as Blaine quietly lowered himself into a seat across from them.

"Hi..." Blaine tried his hardest to smile. "How are you?"

Kurt's face fell. "How am I? Are you seriously going to ask me that? I'm playing Tony in West Side freaking Story! Marc Jacobs could go bankrupt and it still wouldn't take me out of this mood."

"Oh. Okay," Blaine responded robotically, reaching for the coffee that his friends had ordered for him.

"You're not even going to congratulate me?!" Kurt asked loudly.

Blaine pulled himself out of his funk. "I'm sorry. Congratulations."

"Dude, you look horrible..." Sam finally noticed. "Have you been crying?"

"No," Blaine lied quickly. "My allergies have just been acting up. It's no big deal."

"Oh, I know," Kurt laughed, completely convinced. "I sneezed, like, eight times in a row in Physics today."

Blaine looked up, and noticed that Sam was still watching him, his face filled with concern. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He really hated this. He didn't want to put a damper on Kurt's good mood, but it was hard to move on when Sam clearly could not. The only thing Blaine could think to do was to change the subject.

"So, how is the rehearsal schedule balanced with football and Glee?"

* * *

Apparently, Blaine couldn't get rid of Sam so easily. Sam contacted him on Facebook chat that night.

_"Okay. Spill." _

Blaine stared at the message uneasily for a moment before sending a reply: _"What do you mean?" _

_"Kurt was high on the news today, he didn't mean to be so insensitive."_

_ "Really," _Blaine sent. _"I'm fine."_

_"You're not fine,"_ Sam sent back. _"You're miserable, and it sucks, and I want to help you." _

Blaine sat at his computer, unable to think of anything to say.

Another message popped up from Sam. He was going to make Blaine talk if he had to message him all night. _"Is it that Sebastian guy again?" _

Blaine hesitated, _"How did you know?" _

_"I just did. Why haven't you told him to go fuck himself yet?" _

Blaine laughed out loud, in a better mood already as he typed his next response. _"As much as I'd like to, I tend to avoid conflict." _

_"Really? Because Kurt told me that you're the one who told him to confront Karofsky last year." _

Blaine had to admit: he had felt guilty about being such a hypocrite for the whole year. _"Yeah. And he told me that you got a black eye from a subsequent confrontation."_

_"All part of the process" _Sam sent back. Blaine was confused for a moment. _"It turned out alright. Karofsky and Kurt are cool now. The situation just needed to climax before it blew over."_

Blaine really didn't believe that a confrontation was what he and Sebastian needed. Knowing Sebastian, he'd find away to stump and conquer Blaine no matter how Blaine approached him. _"You don't know this guy. He's an evil genius." _

_ "I bet you anything that you're smarter and more awesome than he is," _Sam sent him. For some reason, this made him blush.

_"Shut up. You can't compare us based off of the two seconds that you talked to him for."_

_ "I know," _Sam said. _"But it's hard to think that anyone's more awesome than you ;D."_

Blaine tensed up as he read this message. He almost asked, out of instinct, _"Not even Kurt?" _It just seemed like something weird for a guy with a boyfriend to say. Blaine quickly told himself to calm down. Sam's kind words didn't mean anything. He was just trying to make him feel better.

_"Seriously, Blaine. Don't let him get to you." _Sam sent, once again not patient enough for Blaine to respond. _"You're so much better than him". _

His heart fluttered, sincerely touched. Even if Sam didn't know enough to mean what he was saying, it meant enough to Blaine that he cared. _"Thanks, Sam", _He wrote.

_":D" _Was all Sam said in return. After that, it seemed that he had said all he'd wanted to say. Either that, or Kurt had interrupted his Facebook using with some sort of sexual proposal. Blaine didn't particularly want to think about it. He just wanted to think about how much better he felt all of a sudden, and to help him focus on that feeling, he went back and re-read Sam's messages about seven more times.

* * *

The end of the week came, and the Warblers were still acting weirdly around Blaine. No one had said anything else to him about his interactions with Sam and Kurt, but that was because no one was saying much at all to him. Part of his social isolation was self inflicted. Part of him didn't want to deal with the Warblers in any capacity, because even the ones who were pretending to be cool with him probably weren't. He couldn't take being looked at like a total screw-up.

Blaine was more than happy to receive a text message from Sam on Friday during lunch. Sam had been the only person who'd managed to make the chronic clawing feeling in Blaine's gut subside even a little bit since Sebastian threw him under the bus.

_"Wanna come over tonight?" _ Sam asked. Blaine had hung out with Sam and Kurt many the Friday night, but this time was different. It was Sam issuing the invitation, even though it was fairly likely that Kurt had told him to.

_"Definitely!" _Blaine responded within the minute. He was thrilled that he'd now have something to look forward to. After the week he'd have, an evening spent with two people who didn't hate him was just what he needed.

The rest of the day flew by, with Blaine ignoring his classmates just as intensely as his classmates ignored him. He even passed by Sebastian on his way out of the school, and didn't even acknowledge his nemesis when he loudly asked Blaine where the hell he was going. Sure, he was technically ditching Warblers rehearsal, but it's not like they actually wanted him there, and Sam was free right after school. Blaine saw no reason to wait.

He drove to the Hudson-Hummel house as quickly as the speed-limits would allow, feeling light hearted and optimistic for the first time in days. He pulled into his usual spot in the driveway, and pulled off his blazer and tie, tossing them carelessly into his passenger seat before hopping out and going to the front door.

"Hey!" Sam threw open the door before Blaine could even ring the door. "Glad to see you got here in one piece!"

Blaine grinned. "Me too," Then, instinctively. "Where's Kurt?"

"Rehearsal. They only needed the principle characters. He'll be home later."

Blaine nodded understandingly. He made note of how comfortable he felt. A month ago, it would have been weird to hang out alone with Sam. Or maybe they weren't alone.

"What about Finn?" He asked.

"With Rachel. Burt and Carole are at work."

Blaine nodded, undoing his top button as they made their way into the living room.

"Do you want a drink or something?" Sam asked as Blaine dropped onto the couch.

"No thanks,"

Sam dropped onto the other end. "So, how was school today? Are things getting any better?"

Blaine swallowed, surprised by the wave of emotion that passed over him. He wasn't sure what he was feeling. It just meant so much to him that this was one of the first things Sam was asking.

"Not really," Blaine answered honestly. "I'm just trying my best to stick it out."

"Good," Sam said. "Just let me know if I need to come to Dalton and tear that Sebastian guy a new one."

Blaine laughed. "You know it's impossible to take you seriously, right?"

"What? I'm totally tough!" Sam cried.

"You're too nice to 'tear someone a new one'."

Sam shrugged. "Haven't I done it before? Were we not _just_ talking about Karofsky, like, two days ago?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure you lost that fight,"

Sam's jaw dropped, both offended and amused. "I'm pretty sure you weren't there so you wouldn't know."

"No..." Both boys were laughing now. "I heard you lost."

"Whatever," Sam sighed acceptingly. "Do you want to play some Mario Kart?"

Blaine nodded, grinning. "Only if you promise not to 'tear me a new one'."

"Shut up!" Sam laughed, going to retrieve the controllers.

"Never!" Blaine called after him.

* * *

"Damn it!" Sam said, tossing his controller down. "You beat me again."

Blaine glanced over at Sam, skeptical. "You didn't let me win, did you?"

Sam didn't look him in the eye. He shook his head slightly. "No. Of course not. You did that on your own, buddy."

"Sam! Come on!" Blaine was legitimately annoyed. "I don't want you to coddle me just because one kid wasn't nice to me at school today."

"But what if I told you that you actually beat me?" Sam tried. "Would that make you feel better?"

"Well, seeing how this is the first time I've played Mario Kart since I was twelve, I'm thinking that it's unlikely." Blaine told him.

Sam shrugged. "It could have happened."

Blaine turned to Sam, trying to read his face. Sam's eyes were fixed on the TV screen, even though nothing was really happening on it.

"Can I ask you a question?" Blaine wondered timidly.

Sam actually looked at him now. "Sure. Anything."

"Why do you care so much?"

"About Mario Kart?" Sam asked seriously.

"No," Blaine chuckled. "About me..."

Sam hesitated, but only briefly. "You're my boyfriend's friend, and you're a decent guy. I don't see any reason not to care about you."

"It's just... you don't have to waste your time trying to build me up,"

"Blaine, I just wanted to hang out with you," Sam told him sincerely. "I was bored. If anything, this is the opposite of wasting my time."

Blaine relaxed, smiling gratefully at Sam for a long moment. Sam returned the smile. God, he really had a great smile.

"Blaine!" Kurt's unmistakable voice interrupted. Blaine turned his head suddenly to see him coming into the room. "I didn't know you were coming over!"

"Sam didn't tell you?" He asked casually.

"I must have forgotten," Sam shrugged.

"Oh..." Kurt accepted this quickly. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I want to tell you both all the details of my first rehearsal."

Maybe Blaine was mistaken, but he could have sworn that Sam rolled his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been a quiet couple of weeks for Blaine. Sebastian hadn't been bothering him. He hadn't needed to. He'd gotten exactly what he'd wanted, and Blaine was no longer a threat. The rest of the Warblers had been leaving Blaine alone too, but that wasn't actually a good thing.

After the first few days, Blaine got used to the silence. His daily routine became incredibly monotonous. He'd wake up, eat a quiet breakfast with his parents (who'd never had much to say to him), go to school (where his effortless As and Bs made it easy for teachers to ignore him), skip lunch in favor of studying in the library (because it was the one place where the lack of social interaction wasn't allowed to bother him), then go to rehearsal. It became the part of the day he dreaded; the part of the day he felt the most alone.

The worst part was that it seemed Kurt had fallen off the face of the earth. Blaine understood: his BFF was extremely busy. Every day Kurt went without calling to check up on him, Blaine felt less and less comfortable picking up the phone himself. He didn't want to bother Kurt with his problem. It wasn't as if there was anything new to tell him anyway...

When Kurt finally called him, it was in a moment of desperation.

"Do you think Sam would like flowers?" He asked, needing a second opinion.

"Uh..." Blaine started, but Kurt interrupted him again.

"I mean, are they too girly? What if he's offended because he feels like he's the man in the relationship? I mean, I like to acknowledge the fact that we're both men... does that mean neither of us should get flowers?"

"I think flowers are a nice gesture..." Blaine told him weakly. "I mean, if a guy brought home flowers for me for no reason, I'd feel pretty special."

"Blaine, don't tell me you've completely forgotten what tomorrow is?"

"Uh. Tuesday?"

"Our anniversary."

"Oh. Wow..."

"Our _six month _anniversary. That's half a year. No one lasts half a year these days..." Kurt continued. "I don't have a lot of money to spend on a gift for him, but I want to make it special. Especially if he's going to do something special for me. Did he say anything to you?"

"About what."

"About what he's planning..."

"Why would he tell me?" Blaine asked, genuinely confused.

"Well, aren't you two, like, friends?" Kurt asked tersely.

"No." Blaine said. Sam had fallen of the face of the earth recently too, but Blaine hadn't expected anything from him, so it didn't seem to matter.

"Well, that's just great. Who do you think he would have told? I need to get it out of someone."

"But doesn't that take the romance out of it?"

"Pardon?"

"...The element of surprise..." Blaine tried.

Kurt was silent.

Blaine sighed, "I'm sure he'll appreciate whatever you do."

There was a long pause. Then Kurt spoke up again. "You're right. I'll talk to you later."

Kurt hung up. That was it. He didn't even bother asking Blaine how he'd been.

Blaine lowered his phone, dropping it onto his desk. He stared at it for a moment, wondering when the next time it rang would be.

* * *

Sam nervously tapped his pencil on the top of the card table that had been acting as his desk since he moved in with Kurt's family the previous summer. In front of him, his copy of "The Great Gatsby" lie open. He was still on the first chapter.

He heard the door at the top of the stairs open, the steps creaking rhythmically as someone came to join Sam in his quarters.

"Hey there," Kurt's voice rang through the room, bouncing off the concrete walls. Sam swallowed anxiously, turning to look at him.

"I have to get done with the first three chapters of this by tomorrow," Sam told him, hoping that his words would effectively translate to: "I love you, but don't bother me".

"It's only five. You can do it later. I want to talk to you." Kurt said dismissively.

Sam looked down at his book. His stomach was in knots. It was the first year since he was seven that he'd been put in a regular English class. Because of his dyslexia, he'd always had a little more help. His counselor told him this year, however, that he'd been doing well, and it was time for him to accept a bit of a challenge. The semester so far had been brutal, though, and even though Sam was working hard and getting by, he'd been under a lot of stress to keep it up. It was something that Kurt, who breezed through every assignment he started, could never fully understand.

Kurt came over to Sam, standing behind him and placing his hands on Sam's shoulders.

"Kurt..." Sam said gently, turning his head to the left and lightly kissing his boyfriend's knuckles. "I can't procrastinate. I'll come upstairs later."

"I understand that you want to do your homework, Sam," Kurt said impatiently. "This won't take long, though. I just thought you might want to talk about making a reservation for tomorrow night."

Sam didn't think before he spoke. "What's tomorrow night?"

Kurt quickly retracted his hands from Sam's shoulders. "You can't be serious."

Sam immediately remembered. "It's our anniversary."

"Six months, Sam." Kurt reminded him. "Have _you_ ever been in a relationship this long?"

"No. But then again, I haven't really been in a relationship before. Not... one that counted." Sam replied simply.

"So, basically, because you have nothing to compare it to, our relationship isn't worth celebrating!" Kurt snapped.

"Is that what I said?" Sam was getting frustrated. He really didn't want to have a pointless fight when he had more important things to worry about. "Look: I want to celebrate. I do."

"Well, it doesn't sound like it."

"We'll go out this weekend. I have a history test on Wednesday. Tomorrow, I'll be studying."

Kurt sighed, frustrated. "Fine. I'm sorry." But he didn't seem to mean it. "I guess it's unreasonable for me to expect you to jeopardize your grades for some silly celebration..."

"Thank you," Sam mumbled, feeling stupid all of a sudden, though he couldn't quite explain why. He turned back to his desk, staring down at his book.

"I guess I'll leave you and Gatsby alone," Kurt told him. Sam just nodded, and listened to Kurt's footsteps as they went back up the stairs.

* * *

Blaine had become such a pariah, that when one of the Warblers finally acknowledged him, it seemed like the greatest of victories.

He'd been walking up the Staircase at school. Nick and Jeff were coming down, hand in hand. Without really thinking about it, he found himself glancing longingly at their intertwined fingers, wondering how different his situation would be if he had what they had. They were a strong couple; a team. If the warblers turned on one of them, the other one would have their back. They didn't have to worry about being alone. Someone was always automatically on their side.

Not that anyone would ever turn on Nick or Jeff. The warblers loved them. Both of them. They were pretty much the "it" couple these days. Blaine couldn't help but hate them for their happiness.

"Everything alright there, Blaine?" Nick asked suddenly.

Blaine was shocked. He scrambled for an answer. He and Nick locked eyes. He glanced to Jeff, who gave him a quick, sympathetic smile. Blaine almost broke down. He almost told them how hard the past couple of weeks had been. He almost asked them why they'd waited as long as they had to ask him if he was okay? Instead, he went for the easiest response. "I'm fine."

And then they continued to walk in opposite directions.

Blaine spent the next hour in AP Physics, but he wasn't paying an ounce of attention to what his teacher was talking about. Instead, he was thinking about Nick and Jeff, wondering if he should make the next move. He wondered if he'd have the guts to sit next to the couple at lunch. He was optimistic, knowing now that they wouldn't order him to sit somewhere else. He missed eating lunch, and looked forward to the first day in weeks that his stomach wouldn't be rumbling from noon until dinner.

Maybe he'd been stupid to let the tension with the Warblers last for so long. Maybe none of them were actually mad at him anymore. Maybe they just hadn't known how to approach him to apologize for their initial overreaction. It was like an enormous weight had lifted off Blaine's shoulders. Things were going to be okay.

Unfortunately for Blaine, things never stayed stress-free for long.

He excused himself to use the rest room during French class. He'd used one of the urinals and was halfway through washing his hands before he heard some... questionable noises coming from one of the stalls. There was some heavy breathing... a suppressed moan. If Blaine didn't know any better, he'd say someone was in their jacking off. An immature smile came over his face.

Unable to control his curiosity, he glanced over in disbelief to catch a glimpse of the culprit's feet. To his surprise, he didn't just see one pair. Someone else was in the stall... on their knees. Holy crap. Someone was getting a blow job in the Dalton bathroom, and right in the middle of fourth period!

Blaine was going to tiptoe out, trying to make as little noise as possible. He didn't want to disturb his fellow horny teens. But just as he was about to make a run for it, the noises changed.

The moaner let out a final gasp. There was a cough, and the sound of someone spitting onto the floor.

"Jesus christ, Jeff!" A familiar voice yelped. "I told you to swallow!"

Blaine's stomach flipped. He wasn't surprised that it was _Sebastian _getting head in the middle of the school day. His heart sank for another reason: Jeff. Maybe it wasn't _the _Jeff. There had to be another gay Jeff at Dalton. This didn't have to mean what he feared it meant.

"Sorry..." _The _Jeff's unique voice replied. Blaine suddenly felt like crying. His faith in love was suddenly compromised. "You didn't tell me you were gonna cum!"

"Oh god," Blaine mumbled lowly, disgustedly. He hadn't meant to react. It had just kind of happened.

"Oh shit. Someone's in here..." Sebastian said. The sound of his zipper going up echoed through the room. Panicked, Blaine backed out of the bathroom.

He'd only made it a couple yards down the hall before he heard the bathroom door swing open again. He kept moving, hoping that if he kept his back to them, they wouldn't recognize him.

"Blaine! Wait!" Jeff cried desperately after him. Blaine didn't know what to do. He sped up a bit, and didn't turn around or spot until he was back in his classroom, shaking in his desk.

* * *

Blaine ended up in the library during lunch again that day. All hope of befriending Nick and Jeff again was gone. He couldn't look either of them in the eye after what had happened. He'd have to be content with spending lunch alone.

To his, horror, though. Sebastian wouldn't let him have that.

Sebastian lowered himself in the chair next to Blaine's in the library.

"I need to talk to you," He said, seeming more serious than Blaine had ever seen him.

Blaine glared at him. He had no words.

"Blaine...what you saw today... you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"Why not?" Blaine asked smartly. "Are you afraid people might start hating you as much as they hate me?"

Sebastian hesitated. "Nobody hates you."

"Yes. They do," Blaine mumbled, focusing on his French book. "You made sure of that."

"You have to understand..." Sebastian tried. "This time, it isn't about you and me. Other people are going to get hurt."

"If I were Nick, I'd like to know the truth." Blaine sneered.

"Jeff doesn't want to lose him."

"Then he shouldn't have sucked your cock!" Blaine cried, a little louder than he intended. A few people at the nearby tables shot him questioning looks.

"Shut up!" Sebastian hissed, panicked. Blaine felt a rush of power, and felt an evil chuckle escape him. "This isn't funny, Anderson." Sebastian warned him.

"I know." Blaine got a hold of himself. It really wasn't funny. It was heartbreaking. "I just... I don't understand why you had to go after Jeff if you didn't even want them to break up."

Sebastian was quiet for a really long time. He still looked pretty serious, and it made Blaine uncomfortable to see him showing remorse.

"I don't know." Sebastian finally said. "It's just...really nice when someone's willing to give you head."

Blaine laughed again. "Sorry. I wouldn't know."

"Clearly," Sebastian replied.

Blaine was instantly offended, even though he had been the one to say it.

"So..." Sebastian continued. "You're not going to say anything, are you?"

Blaine hesitated. He really wasn't sure what he was going to do.

* * *

"So then, I hear Jeff spitting Sebastian's... load... out... And then they start coming out of the stall and I didn't want them to see me..."

Blaine was pacing around Kurt's kitchen while Kurt sat at the table, listening to him. When Blaine had found out that Kurt and Sam weren't celebrating their anniversary tonight after all, he'd rushed over. He didn't feel like he had any other option at this point. He needed someone to talk to about this.

Kurt just nodded thoughtfully as Blaine finished the story. "...So what do I do? Do I tell Nick?"

"If I were him, I'd want to know." Kurt answered quickly.

"Yeah. That's what I said." Blaine said quietly.

Suddenly, the door to the basement swung open and Sam came into the room.

"Hey, I thought I heard you..." Sam said to Blaine. "How's it going, bro?"

"It's fine." Blaine tried.

Sam stared at him for a moment, confused. "It's pretty obviously not fine."

Kurt sighed, answering for Blaine. "He caught Sebastian with his friend's boyfriend, and isn't sure what to do."

"Tell him." Sam said immediately. "If it were me, I'd want to know."

"I think we've reached a consensus." Kurt said pleasantly. He turned to his boyfriend. "Sam, don't you have a test to be studying for?"

"I'll go back down in a minute," Sam told him. "If Blaine is having a problem, I want to help."

"It's not a problem," Kurt shrugged. "We just came up with a solution."

"How have you been otherwise, Blaine? Have things gotten any better with the guys?"

* * *

After Blaine was gone that night, Kurt followed Sam back down to the basement.

"Well, we certainly wasted a lot of time, didn't we?" He asked Sam.

"Here we go..." Sam sighed, bored. "Look, can we not do this?"

"What?"

"Nothing," Sam said. "I really do have to study now."

"Too bad you didn't get it done when Blaine was here," Kurt said lightly. "You'd be done by now and I could have taken you out like I wanted to."

"I knew it," Sam snapped. "I knew you were getting mad at me up there! Do you really have to be so selfish? Your friend's been having a rough time. Why is it a bad thing for me to want to help him!"

"I was doing fine by myself!" Kurt shouted.

"Please!" Sam began to raise his voice. "You don't care about him! He sits there miserable half the time while you brag about how easy and awesome your life is! When his problems with Sebastian first got really bad, I was the one consoling him, while you couldn't take two minutes away from 'West Side Story' to see what was bothering him!"

"That's not fair!"

"Give it a rest, Kurt!" Sam continued. "You know I'm right! You act like everyone's supposed to be in the same mood as you, and I'm sick of it! We matter too!"

"Of course you do," Kurt huffed. "Sam. Where is this coming from?"

Sam fell quiet. He wasn't really sure what his answer was. Finally, he said. "Kurt, if I don't study I'm going to lose my B."

Kurt clenched his teeth. He watched as his boyfriend sat down at his desk, turning his back to him once again.

"If that's how you feel, then you don't have to be my boyfriend anymore," He said rashly. "We'll be housemates, and nothing more."

Sam turned around, blinking incredulously. "Are you for real? I say one negative thing and you break up with me?"

"It sounds like you're the one breaking up with me!" Kurt cried, tears now rolling down his face.

"I'm trying to communicate with you!" Sam yelled. "I'm trying to tell you how I feel. If anything, I want to prevent a break up!"

Kurt sniffed, wiping tears from his face. "But how could you accuse me of not caring? I've been distracted, and I'm sorry. But I care about both of you."

Sam suddenly felt bad. Maybe he had been a little harsh. He stood up cautiously. "Kurt. Stop crying. I know you do...I'm sorry."

He stepped toward Kurt, going to embrace him, but Kurt backed away. Sam froze, surprised by Kurt's resilience. Kurt proceeded to rush up the stairs, slamming the basement door behind him.

At that point, there was nothing left for Sam to do. He went back to his card table, and finished studying.


	4. Chapter 4

Blaine took a deep breath, as he walked into the common room at Dalton. Nick was sitting alone at a table in the corner, with a cup of coffee and his history textbook. Blaine hesitated, knowing that he could easily turn around and walk out without telling Nick anything. Then he remembered what Kurt and Sam had said. If they were Nick, they'd want to know.

"Hey, Nick," Blaine said, approaching the other boy's table and gripping the back of the chair across from his. "Mind if I sit?"

Nick smiled uncaringly. "Of course I don't. Go ahead."

Blaine pulled the chair out and gently lowered himself into it. Nick continued to read from his textbook, highlighting a sentence every now and then. Blaine watched him for a moment.

"Is everything okay?" Nick asked, glancing up and realizing that Blaine was staring at him.

"No." Blaine answered automatically. "Look. I need to talk to you."

Nick set his highlighter down. "Okay. What's up?"

"I... saw something... the other day." Blaine began. Nick didn't say anything, but he watched Blaine attentively. "It was Jeff. He was with Sebastian, and they were hooking up."

Nick was quiet. His face didn't change. When he finally spoke, he surprised Blaine by saying. "I know."

"You do?"

"Jeff told me everything," Nick said sadly. "He told me what he did. He told me you caught him. He said that he knew I wouldn't believe you if you told me yourself, which I probably wouldn't."

Blaine shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't blame you."

"Jeff and I had been having problems for weeks," Nick said calmly. "We broke up this morning. The Sebastian thing sort of opened both of our eyes, you know?"

"I'm so sorry, Nick." Blaine said sympathetically. "You guys seemed so happy. I had no idea."

"It was exhausting," Nick continued to vent. Suddenly, it was as if he was a balloon that Blaine had poked a hole in, and all the air was slowly leaking out. "We'd fight, we'd make up, we'd be with our friends one minute, cuddling and being this great couple, then the next we'd be screaming at each other in the front yard. I guess Jeff needed a way out, and he got it."

Blaine nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"But god damn it..." Nick continued, punching the table top and shaking his head. "That Sebastian guy really is a sack of shit, isn't he?"

Blaine let out a small, relieved chuckle. "You don't have to tell _me_ that."

"Did you know he came onto me first?" Nick asked. "It's pathetic. He wanted me to cheat on Jeff and when I wouldn't, he took him away as revenge. Their both little sacks of shit, actually. This whole thing is just... messed up."

"Yeah. You deserve better," Blaine nodded.

"Thanks, Blaine." Nick smiled gratefully. "Thanks for making sure I knew."

"No problem, man."

"Really," Nick continued. "I'm so, so sorry for the way the Warblers have been treating you. We were acting like twelve-year-old girls. You barely did anything. I don't know why things got so awkward."

"It's fine..." Blaine mumbled.

"No. It's not. I should have realized what Sebastian was trying to do..." Nick's voice got a little bit louder, and Blaine had to look around to make sure no one was listening. "We're going to get him back, Blaine. You and me; we're going to make him wish that he'd never come to this school."

* * *

Kurt and Sam finally spoke to each other again during lunch hour. They'd driven to school that morning in silence. Kurt had been behind the wheel; Sam staring out the window in the backseat; Finn riding shotgun, deeply confused as to why Sam had offered the spot to him in the first place.

Then, at lunch, Mercedes called attention to them. "Is everything alright with you two?"

Sam glanced expectantly at Kurt, who's jaw was clenched as he fought back tears. They'd been sitting next to each other, wanting to keep up appearances, but they hadn't said a word to one another all day.

Finally, Sam leaned over and whispered to his boyfriend, "Can we go talk somewhere?"

Knowing he couldn't hold back his emotions much longer, Kurt nodded.

"We'll see you guys later," Sam told their friends, who looked concerned as they watched the boys walk away.

Sam brought Kurt to the boy's locker room, where he knew they'd get a little bit of privacy.

"Where do we stand, Kurt?" Sam asked him bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked weakly.

"We said some things last night, but we didn't come to a decision. Do you want to break up or not?"

Kurt finally let out a choked sob. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

"We've been spending a lot of time together," Sam reasoned. "Maybe a break would do us some good."

"Wait. Do you want to break up, or do you want to go on a break?" Kurt asked quickly.

"I don't know." Sam said, frustrated. "I just know that I don't want to do _this_ anymore... I don't feel the same way about you as I did back in April."

"What? Are you just gonna go back to Kentucky now?" Kurt asked reasonably.

"I'm still your friend. I'm still Finn's friend..." Sam tried.

"So, you still expect to camp out in my basement."

"If anything, this is _because_ I've been living in your basement!" Sam tried to get across. "You're always breathing down my neck, always wanting me to be doing exactly what you want me to be doing. I'd feel better if I got some space for a while."

"Yeah," Kurt sniffed bitterly. "You'll get some space. Two whole floors worth."

"We can see where we are in a few months." Sam told him.

"And what if nothing's changed?" Kurt asked hysterically. "Then everything's just over?"

"You don't have to be so dramatic about it," Sam said accusingly.

With that, Kurt just shook his head. "Bye, Sam," He said sharply. "I'll see you at dinner."

Kurt left the locker room quickly, and Sam was hit by a wave of mixed emotions. He felt guilty, sure; a little nauseous. Mostly, though, he felt relieved.

* * *

Blaine stared at the text message he'd just received.

_"Sam just broke up with me." _

What were the odds that both of the seemingly functional gay couples he knew would split in the same 24 hour period? Frantically, he texted Kurt back.

_"What?! Are you okay?"_

Blaine held tightly onto his phone as he walked into Warbler's rehearsal, thinking Kurt was going to text him back any minute.

The minute he entered the room, Jeff rushed up to him.

"How could you tell him?" He was hissing. "You didn't even come to get my side of the story!"

Blaine was overwhelmed. Unable to formulate a response, he ignored Jeff, and walked past him without saying anything.

"Hey, Blaine!" Trent's voice called to him. "There's a seat for you over here."

Blaine looked over to see Trent sitting on one of the leather couches. He went over to join him, wondering when exactly Trent had decided to speak to him again.

"Look, Blaine..." Trent said immediately. "I think we should put any of our former conflict in the past. We're a team in here, and I'm sorry I ever doubted your understanding of that."

"Yeah, you did the right thing with the Nick and Jeff situation," Thad said as he approached.

"You guys know about that?" Blaine asked nervously.

"Everyone knows about it!" Trent exclaimed. "Nick wasn't going to let them get away with it."

Blaine knew that. Nick had told him himself. He just hadn't expected the revenge to start so soon. He suddenly looked up to see Nick pacing around the front of the room. Blaine's stomach sank. He had the gut feeling that some serious shit was about to go down.

His feeling was right. The instant Sebastian walked through the door, Nick lunged at him and grabbed him by the front of his blazer. He tugged him over to the nearest bookcase and pinned him up against it.

"You think you're pretty cool, don't you?" Nick hissed.

Sebastian showed no fear. "Well... this is quite the confrontation," He said coolly.

"How can you show your face in here?" Nick went on. "You're such a little prick. You don't care about Jeff. You don't care about anyone. All you care about is power, and you know what? That's not what we're about in here."

Sebastian was still smirking. "You wanna pretend like every guy in here isn't fighting for a solo or a spot on the council?"

"Competing. Not fighting." Nick said smartly, giving Sebastian another shove. "Maybe it's time for you to learn the difference."

Nick let go of him and stepped back. Sebastian let out a heavy laugh, smoothing out his blazer, assuming Nick was finished with his little outburst. He didn't even see Nick's fist flying at the side of his face. His eyes snapped shut as he got hit.

"That's fighting, bitch!" Nick shouted.

Blaine looked around frantically, wondering if any of the warblers were going to do anything. Sebastian leaped at Nick, wrestling him to the ground. Limbs were flying, and after a few seconds, Blaine could tell that Nick wasn't winning anymore. This whole thing felt so counterproductive. He wanted it to stop before someone got really hurt.

And so he stood up, "Stop it!" He cried out.

And they did. Not because they honestly wanted to listen to him. Mostly, they froze in shock of the fact that Blaine Anderson, of all people, was the first one to speak up.

"What's the matter, pygmy? Is this turning you on?" Sebastian sneered.

In a rush of adrenaline, Blaine walked over to them and shoved Sebastian off Nick. Sebastian tumbled off, not even kind of resisting, and quickly rose to his feet, sizing Blaine up.

"I'm so happy that you're the hero again," Sebastian spat at him. He looked around, calling out to the rest of the warblers, "Order in the choir room has been restored!"

"Nick's right!" Blaine yelled, his face getting hot. "How can you even show your face in here?"

Sebastian looked around again, searching for someone to jump out of the crowd and take his side. But the warblers just watched him, waiting to see what his next move would be.

"Screw you guys," Sebastian said confidently. "I have other shit to worry about...I'm not gonna waste my time with a show choir that's only made it to Regionals three times in the past twenty years."

"Right..." Nick said, holding his side and panting as he started to lift himself off the floor. "You'll just dedicate all your time and energy to a Lacrosse team that hasn't won a game since Clinton was in office."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Or maybe I'll give up teams all together, Nicholas." He snapped. "It turns out I'm not too big a fan of working with others. They only let you down."

"You let yourself down, Sebastian," Blaine piped in frankly.

"Yeah," Nick laughed. "It really is as simple as that."

Sebastian looked around the room one more time, just to make sure that he was really as alone as he felt. The warblers were silent, all of them staring down at the floor, avoiding eye contact. A convincing smile came over Sebastian's face, but Blaine knew it was fake.

"Alright, then." Sebastian sighed. "I guess this is goodbye."

* * *

Blaine felt on top of the world as he walked into Kurt's house after practice. He felt so powerful. He hadn't been able to stop smiling the whole drive over. Sebastian was gone. Everyone hated him. Blaine's life was finally going to get back to normal.

He bit down on his lip, knowing he had to put on his serious face now. Kurt and Sam had just broken up. That was not good news.

"How're you holding up?" Blaine asked, opening Kurt's bedroom door. The curtains were closed, the lights were off, and Kurt was in the fetal position in his bed.

"I'm not." Kurt whimpered.

Blaine walked over to him, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him.

"I just don't know what I did wrong!" Kurt was crying. "He just seemed so mad at me all the time...I should have seen it coming. I just thought he'd at least want to try to work everything out. I'm so stupid."

"You're not! Maybe you guys were just a bad fit..." Blaine tried.

"Yeah, well, I wish I'd known that before I lost my virginity to him," Kurt choked back.

"Kurt..." Blaine awkwardly rested a hand on Kurt's shoulder as Kurt sobbed into his pillow.

"You don't understand what it's like, Blaine!" Kurt told him. "You've never been in love."

"Well...maybe not..." Blaine said softly, looking away from Kurt and fidgeting with a corner of his comforter. He felt so helpless, like there wasn't much at all that he could say or do to fix the situation for his best friend. "But I've known people who have been, and I know that they've survived much nastier break ups."

"I bet they didn't have to live under the same roof..." Kurt wiped his nose on his sleeve. Blaine cringed and looked around the room, trying to spot a box of kleenex. Kurt suddenly sat up, so that he was at eye-level with Blaine. "And even if they do, they know it's only temporary. Sam may _never leave_! He breaks up with me and he doesn't even have the decency to get out of my face!"

"It's not like he has anywhere else to go," Blaine shrugged uncomfortably.

Kurt paused for a moment, thinking. Then, half joking, he said. "Maybe he should stay with you. Your house is big enough.

At first, Blaine just laughed. But, quickly enough, he began to seriously entertain the idea of Sam coming to stay with him. His house had a guest room... several guest rooms, actually. His parents didn't pay attention to anything he did, let alone who he brought over. Kurt had slept over multiple times without them batting an eye. Besides, his mother was very charitable. If, on the off chance, she decided to ask questions, Blaine could feed her some sob story about Sam's homelessness. This would certainly be a way for Blaine to help out. However, just because it was possible, didn't mean that Blaine actually wanted to do it.

"If it were just for a few days..." Kurt continued to plead. "Just until I've gotten all of the wallowing out of my system. I mean, you guys are pretty much friends already. It wouldn't be too awkward, would it?"

"I don't know when or why you decided that he and I are actually friends," Blaine mumbled. Kurt was wrong, living with Sam _would _be awkward.

"Blaine." Kurt scolded. "Stop it. You two are friends, and as his friend, I think you should extend your invitation to him right away."

"How's he gonna get to school?" Blaine asked practically.

"Public transportation. Or maybe Finn can go pick him up in the mornings."

"I don't know..." Blaine tried. "It would be weird."

"Blaine, will you at least think about it?" Kurt begged, trying out his own brand of puppy-dog eyes.

"You know, most people try to turn their friends _against_ their ex-boyfriends," Blaine tried. Kurt didn't budge. "Fine, I'll think about it. But remember: just because I invite him doesn't mean he has to accept.


	5. Chapter 5

"Kurt, I understand that you're still upset about the break up," Rachel was going on after rehearsal the following Friday. "...But Tony is a role that requires you to be one-hundred percent committed, and frankly you're being unprofessional."

As Kurt and Rachel exited the auditorium into the school hallway, his eyes were fixed on Sam, who was walking with Mike several feet away. As soon as rehearsal had ended, Sam had approached Kurt and quickly told him that he didn't need a ride home. Kurt was relieved that he and Sam wouldn't have to ride together for that awkward ten minutes, but the terseness of their exchange had left Kurt feeling only more heartbroken.

Kurt had compromised with Blaine. They would only ask Sam to take a break from living at the Hudson/Hummel house if things got particularly unbearable. Kurt and Sam's post-breakup cohabitation had been rough, but they found that if they ignored each other, everything was manageable. Then again, that was during the week. It was the weekend now, and Kurt knew that things were about to get a lot harder.

"I have to meet Finn," Rachel said quickly, failing to realize that Kurt's face had fallen, and that he had never really been listening to her in the first place.

Kurt nodded, "I'm going to my locker," He told her absentmindedly.

They gave each other a quick hug before parting ways.

The hallways were fairly empty, with only the theatre kids still populating them. Kurt took a deep breath, holding it together but knowing that he was going to loose it as soon as he got home. He approached his locker and started to fumble with his combination lock. It took him more tried than usual to get it open, because his hands were shaking and he kept messing up.

Frustrated, he smacked his locker. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against it and taking a few more deep breaths.

"You don't look so good..." A voice interrupted.

It was strange to him to hear that voice addressing him in such a non-threatening way. He looked up to see Karofsky coming toward him, and his posture fixed itself. Karofsky may have stopped being his mortal enemy after he apologized on prom night, but that didn't mean that Kurt was willing to break down in front of him.

"I'm fine." Kurt lied.

"I saw that your relationship status changed," Karofsky continued awkwardly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kurt blinked incredulously at him, unsure of how to react. "Not really."

Karofsky nodded thoughtfully. "Do you want to go out with me tonight, then?"

"Excuse me?" Kurt tried not to look too horrified, but the shock of the request was too much.

Karofsky smirked. "I didn't mean like that," He shook his head dismissively. "I'm not looking to be anyone's rebound, Hummel. I just...I think I know where to take you to get your mind off things."

"I don't know..." Kurt hesitated. He still wasn't sure how much he trusted Karofsky after everything that had happened junior year.

"Look: I know we're not best friends, and that you probably have better things to do on a Friday night..." Karofsky said understandingly.

He didn't. "I don't."

"Okay. So, come to Scandals with me."

"Scandals?" Kurt had to admit, he was sort of intrigued. "What's that?"

Karofsky's face broke into a wicked grin. "You'll see."

* * *

"You're clear. Come on." Kurt slipped casually through the back door at Scandals, which Karofsky was holding open for him. Although bar security was pretty lenient, and had accepted Dave's pretty blatantly fake ID, both of the boys knew that they weren't going to let Kurt in. He looked a lot younger than Karofsky, and hadn't even gone through the effort to get a fake. Therefore, the two of them had come up with the brilliant plan to sneak him through the back. If any of the bar's employee's noticed, none of them seemed to care.

"This is a horrible decision," Kurt said breathily, glancing around at the rag-tag group of older men that had collected there.

"You really think so?" Karofsky teased, laughing. "You should see yourself. You look like a kid in a candy store."

Kurt suddenly thought of something. "You don't...pick up guys here, do you?"

Dave shrugged. "I've gotten a couple of numbers. Nobody too promising, though."

Kurt couldn't help but laugh. The idea of Karofsky picking up guys in a suburban gay bar was a lot to process. Karofsky's smile faltered a bit.

"What's funny, Hummel?" He asked defensively.

"Nothing," Kurt got ahold of himself. "I think it's great that you've found a place to... socialize." He couldn't look the larger boy in the eye.

Karofsky gave up. "I'm gonna get a beer. Do you want a beer?"

Kurt shook his head dismissively, and continued to scope out the area while Karofsky slipped away.

The second Kurt was alone, he was cornered.

"Haven't seen you here before," A slender blond said to him, eyeing him up and down. "Are you from out of town?"

Kurt felt his cheeks heating up. "Not exactly."

"Whatever," The blond nodded, popping the gum he was chewing. "You like dancing?"

"As much as the next guy," Kurt said, quickly deciding that he had nothing left to lose and might as well get a little bit of flirting out of his system.

"Come on," The blond suddenly grabbed his hand. "I'll show you how we throw down in Lima, Ohio."

Kurt didn't have a chance to say anything else. Before long, he was being tugged onto the dance floor. He glanced over his shoulder to see Karofsky at the bar, chatting with a scruffy looking guy wearing a Browns jersey, and was glad to know he wouldn't be abandoning him.

The floor was wild. The upbeat rhythm pounded through Kurt's entire body as the stranger got closer to him. At first Kurt was self conscious. Sure, he could dance. He did choreographed numbers in Glee club all the time. However, he'd never really _danced_ before. Quickly, though, he realized that no one was actually paying attention to him. They were all too busy thinking about how they moved themselves. Soon, Kurt was able to let go, and lose himself to the music.

After a song or so, he and the blond guy were joined by several others. Maybe they knew the other guy, maybe not. Their twosome became one big mosh pit, bouncing in unison and screaming the lyrics to some Green Day song. Of course, Kurt didn't know the words. He'd never been much of a Green Day fan. He realized, at that point, that he might just be the gayest gay in the gay bar. He wondered if any of the laid-back bros he was dancing with had ever even _heard _of Judy Garland.

The next song came on, and Kurt realized he had judged too soon. It was an extra special dance remix of Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time". This disgusted Kurt even more than the Green Day. How cliche was this DJ trying to get?

He quickly got over himself once he realized how catchy the beat was. He began to move his hips, his head bopping around. He was jumping up and down a bit, and eventually lost his balance, stumbling back into someone who was standing behind him. Even though he'd collided with several people already tonight, he still couldn't get past his manners.

"Oh, sorry," He said, turning around reflexively to make sure he hadn't caused any damage.

The other guy turned around too, uncaringly. It took them a moment to recognize each other.

"Oh." Kurt said loudly, his face falling. "It's you."

Sebastian blinked back at him. "Have we met?"

"Sebastian Smythe." Kurt said dryly.

Sebastian just stood facing him, shoving his hands into his pockets and waiting for some further explanation. The music was really loud, and Kurt knew the other boy probably couldn't hear him all that well.

"I'm friends with Blaine..." Kurt continued, leaning in a little closer and raising his voice.

Sebastian's face crept into a devious smile. "I'm not."

Kurt rolled his eyes, and turned around, returning to his dancing. Unfortunately, Sebastian came around to his other side.

"You're the one with the scary boyfriend," He told Kurt.

The word "boyfriend" stung, but Kurt was in no mood to actually react. He had come out tonight to try _not_ to think about Sam.

"No I'm not." He said boldly, hoping that would be enough. He pushed past Sebastian and began to make his way off the dance floor, desperately looking for an escape.

"You're not?" Sebastian asked, second guessing himself. He thought for a moment. "I'm sure you are. He's the one that looks like one of the illustrations in an IKEA manual, right?"

"IKEA's tacky. So, I wouldn't know."

This made Sebastian smile. "You seem sober," He said randomly.

"I am sober." Kurt replied simply.

Sebastian took a quiet moment to size Kurt up for real, a glint of intrigue in his eye that made Kurt kind of nervous. "Now, why would you do that to yourself?"

"Haven't you ever heard of a designated driver?" Kurt asked lightly.

"Why assign one of those when you can just order a town car?"

Kurt glared at him as they approached the bar. Karofsky was nowhere to be seen, and Kurt wondered if he was off somewhere hooking up with the Browns fan.

"Wow. You are just like Blaine." Sebastian claimed. "Neither one of you knows how to take a joke. Really, I think it's noble of you to want to be the one who gets your boyfriend home safely. Where is he, anyway?"

"Not here," Kurt mumbled, hoping onto one of the bar stools.

"...Because he's off helping Olga assemble an entertainment unit?"

"...Because he's not my boyfriend." Kurt said simply. Hope of forgetting about the break-up now was completely lost. Impulsively, Kurt raised an arm to flag down the bartender.

The bartender was a youthful looking guy with gorgeous brown eyes. He gave Kurt an adorable grin as he approached. "What can I get for you?"

"Bring him three shots of Jack." Sebastian said confidently.

The bartender nodded and automatically went to pouring. Kurt turned to Sebastian, annoyed. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, Ellen Paige. They're on me."

"Be frugal, Smythe." Kurt said dryly. "Remember, you still have a town car to pay for."

The bartender came and placed the shots in front of them. Sebastian gave him a thankful nod. "Put 'em on my tab, Bart."

"No problem," The guy said before walking away.

Sebastian reached forward and grabbed one of the glasses, taking a shot himself. Then, slamming the empty glass down on the bar, he gestured to the other two.

"I was just gonna order a diet coke." Kurt told Sebastian.

"I have too much kindness in my heart to let you face this night with nothing but caffeine in your system."

Kurt was passed the point of good judgment. He took a deep breath, and downed the shots back to back. His eyes stung and he fought back the urge to vomit.

"There it is," Sebastian cried, smacking Kurt on the back. "I can see you loosening up already."

"Hey..."

Kurt turned around to see Karofsky coming back toward the bar.

"Oh, hi," Kurt said, turning away Sebastian. "Where'd you go?"

"This guy I met was showing me his Camaro..." Karofsky said, his eyes darting back and forth between Kurt and Sebastian, trying to assess the situation.

"Front seat or back?" Sebastian asked Dave cheekily.

Dave rolled his eyes, smirking dismissively. "Anyway," He readdressed Kurt. "I think I'm ready to call it a night. How about you? It's almost curfew."

Kurt moved his empty glass around in his hand, looking down thoughtfully at it.

"I'll make sure you can get home," Sebastian offers. "Come on. It's barely eleven-thirty."

Kurt hesitated. He smiled meekly at Karofsky. "I don't have to be home until one."

"Alright." Karofsky shrugged, uncaring. "I'll see you at rehearsal, man."

He slapped Kurt on the back before leaving. Kurt watched him as he disappeared into the crowd. The bar had only gotten more crowded as the night went on.

"So, are you gonna do another shot, or what?" Sebastian asked him.

"Why are you doing this?" Kurt asked, turning back to him and blinking innocently.

"Because I just saw the end of something. Just like you..." Sebastian sighed.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"Misery loves company." Sebastian said distantly. He looked hard at Kurt. "Also, Blaine would hate it if he knew his bestie was hanging out with me, and I love to see him angry, don't you?"

Kurt suddenly felt guilty. Blaine had been the last person on his mind today.

"No." Kurt said simply. "I don't. Maybe I should go."

He and Sebastian stood there for a moment, neither of them saying anything. "Maybe you should," Sebastian offered, but Kurt still didn't move. Sebastian chuckled. "Unless you don't want to."

Kurt swallowed, and switched out his empty glass for the remaining filled one. He drank it quickly.

"Why should I care how he feels," Kurt said spitefully. "It doesn't seem to matter either way anymore. For either of them."

Sebastian's grin widened. "Good." He said confidently. "I was starting to think I'd be drinking alone all night."

* * *

Sam came in through the kitchen door around twelve thirty. He'd had a simple evening, playing Grand Theft Auto and eating Pizza with Mike and Artie. It had been just what he needed; a night with the guys.

He kicked his sneakers off into a corner and walked across the dimly lit tile floor. As he made his way down the hall toward the Hudson/Hummel family room, he realized that everyone else was either still out, or they had gone to bed already. The entire house was eerily quiet.

Sam went over to the Hummel's family computer, and lowered himself into the plastic swivel chair, switching it on. Kurt and Finn both had laptops, so he never had much competition when he wanted to use it. Still, he always felt so self conscious, sitting in front of the monitor and knowing that someone could walk in any moment, unannounced. It wasn't that he ever did anything inappropriate on this computer. There was just always this gnawing feeling in his stomach that he shouldn't be using it, even if Carole had told him dozens of times that he didn't need permission every time he wanted to.

Sam signed into Facebook on autopilot. Like most teenagers, it was automatically the first thing he did when turning on any computer. He didn't have any notifications, so he went right to scrolling his Newsfeed. He quickly realized that Blaine had blown the whole thing up.

_"Blaine Anderson liked 'The Lion King' , 'napping', 'Wendy's', and 6 other pages." _

"Wow..." Sam mumbled to himself, scrolling down. There were about seven links Blaine had posted of random youtube blogs, a status about how great it was to relax at home after a long week, and a few "shares" of memes that weren't actually all that funny. Sam looked over at his chat bar and saw a little green dot next to Blaine's name. He was still online. After what looked like hours in front of his computer, he still wasn't tired of it. Sam realized how bored and lonely Blaine must be, and suddenly wished that he'd hung out with him tonight. He chatted him right away.

_"What's up?" _He asked. Blaine replied immediately.

_"Not much. Spending some quality time with the internet." _

_ "I can see that," _Sam typed back. _"You should text me next week. We can waste time together."_

Then, there was a long pause. Sam wondered why this was. He didn't think he'd crossed any lines. After a minute or so, Sam opened a new window so he could go on Tumblr. Before he could log in, though. The sound of the back door opening, followed by a loud crash, made Sam jump.

"Hello?" He called out instinctively.

He was answered by the unmistakable sound of Kurt's laugh.

"Who is that?" Another guy's voice asked quietly. Sam's stomach turned to led as he slowly got out of his chair, and started toward the kitchen. Who the hell had Kurt brought home?

Sam appeared in the Kitchen entry way to find Sebastian Smythe picking up a chair that had somehow gotten knocked over. Kurt was crawling across the floor on his hands and knees.

Sebastian and Sam stared awkwardly at each other for a moment, neither of them knowing what to say or do. It didn't matter that Sam was the one to end their relationship. The fact that Kurt would bring the biggest slut in Lima home three days after their break up registered as completely unacceptable. It didn't bother Sam that Kurt would go looking for some rebound action as much as it bothered him that he'd go out of his way to flaunt his conquests. It bothered him that Kurt seemed to have found the one person who would bother him the most.

"What is he doing here?" Sebastian cringed, looking down to Kurt.

"I live here," Sam responded directly. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Wait...this is your house?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt just started laughing harder. He got down on his stomach and laid on the floor, burying his face in his arms.

"Kurt, have you been drinking?" Sam asked him.

"Don't worry, Blondie. I'll take him home. My driver's waiting for me in the driveway." Sebastian said back, condescendingly. "Kurt just gave me an address, and I assumed it was his own. I apologize for the intrusion."

"This is Kurt's house..." Sam explained. "I stay here while my parents are working in Kentucky..."

"Oh, wow," Sebastian laughed meanly. "You guys broke up... and you still have to live together...?"

Kurt groaned into the floor.

"Yeah. Now that I've explained myself to you, why don't you return the favor?" Sam requested bluntly. "Why are you here?"

"Well," Sebastian said, pulling out a chair from the kitchen table and calmly lowering himself into it. "Kurt and I thought it would be fun to get to know each other a little better. And I have to say, Kurt, for a guy who spends so much time with total squares, you yourself are a pretty cool guy."

"Kurt," Sam scolded. He'd had enough. "Get up!"

Suddenly, Sam felt someone approaching behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Burt, wearing a flannel robe, with sleep in his eyes.

"What's going on down here?"

Sam stepped out of the entry way to let the patriarch into the room. Burt took one look at Kurt, and let out a long sigh.

"Man, it's gonna be fun to punish you in the morning..." He said wistfully down to his son.

Kurt finally lifted his head, looking miserably up at his father. "I'm so sorry, daddy..."

Sam could tell that Burt was amused, and trying hard not to smile. "Get up and go upstairs. Anything you throw up on, you're cleaning yourself."

Suddenly motivated, Kurt sloppily rose to his feet, and began to stumble out of the room. Burt sighed again, and waited for his son to be out of earshot before addressing the other two boys.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't do anything stupid when I was eighteen," He told them. He looked at Sam, concerned. "He said he was going to Blaine's. Have you been lying to me too?"

"No sir," Sam said quickly. "I was actually at Mike's...I've been back for a while."

Burt then looked to Sebastian, who had stood up and was almost to the door.

"Wait!" Burt stopped him sternly. "I don't know who you are, but I'm not letting you behind the wheel of a car."

"I have a driver," Sebastian said smugly, slipping his hands into his pockets.

"Are you being smart with me?" Burt asked, annoyed.

"Look out the window if you don't believe me." Sebastian shrugged. Burt blinked at him, sizing him up. He wasn't sure if he believed him or not. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I don't like to keep him waiting."

Sebastian quickly slipped out the door. Burt instinctively rushed after him. However, he stopped in his tracks on the stoop when he saw Sebastian sprinting away and jumping into the back of what looked like a mini limousine. As the car backed out of the driveway, Burt slowly went back inside, where Sam was waiting.

Burt looked like someone had just asked him to solve a particularly difficult math problem. "Can you please tell me who the hell that was?"

"...Just some ass hole." Sam mumbled. "I'm sure Kurt will explain it in the morning."

Burt shook his head, letting out a low chuckle as he walked past Sam again, exiting the kitchen to go back to bed.

Sam made his way back to the computer, desperately trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.

* * *

_"That sounds like it would be fun." _

Blaine had sent the message ten minutes ago. Maybe Sam had changed his mind. Maybe he didn't want to hang out with him next week after all. Or maybe Sam was one of those cool people who had so much going on in his life, that they couldn't bother themselves by paying attention to Facebook chat.

Blaine had been surprised by Sam's invitation. Maybe Kurt had been right. Maybe he and Sam _were_ friends, even if Kurt and Sam weren't together anymore. Blaine was also surprised by how happy that made him, and by how disappointed he was when Sam stopped messaging him back.

Blaine went back to youtube, fully accepting that Sam had forgotten about him. Halfway through a video about a cat who was trying to climb a particularly challenging bookcase, he heard a chat notification go off. He immediately went to read it.

_"Sebastian was here."_

Blaine was confused. He had to check to make sure that he was still talking to Sam, and that someone else hadn't started to talk to him without him realizing it.

_"Sebastian was where?_" Blaine asked stupidly.

_"Here. At Kurt's House. In the kitchen."_

_ "Is that a joke?" _Blaine asked, his face growing hot. _"Why the hell would he go over there? It's not enough that he has to harass me, but now he has to stalk my friends." _

_ "That's the thing..." _Sam typed frantically. _"I think he and Kurt are, like, friends..."_

_"That makes no sense." _Blaine said. He felt completely betrayed. There was no way Kurt and Sebastian hanging out was a coincidence. It just seemed like such a vicious move. _"How the hell do they even know each other?"_

_ "I have no idea," _Sam told him. _"Kurt was pretty drunk, and I think he was trying to make me jealous."_

_ "KURT WAS DRUNK!?" _Blaine couldn't even believe it. He was experiencing a spike on adrenaline, and it was great having someone to share his shock and anger with. _"This. makes. no. sense." _

_ "You're telling me." _Sam said. _"I'm so pissed right now._"

_"Dude. Me too. I was about to go to bed, but now I don't think I'll be able to." _

_ "Ugh," _Sam sent back. _"If this is how it's gonna be from now on, I don't think I can do it. I'd rather give up show choir and go back to my parents then put up with this shit." _

Blaine read this message twice, remembering what Kurt had asked him to do. He was almost more willing to do it now that he realized it wouldn't just be a favor to Kurt. _"Look: you can always crash here. My parents never care who's sleeping over."_

There was another long pause, and Blaine slowly started feeling stupider and stupider. Finally, Sam replied.

_"That's really nice, but I'll try to stick it out. I'm not sure I want to explain to my mom and dad why my address changed." _

_ "That's cool._" Blaine typed. _"But just know it's an option." _

_ "Yeah. Hey..." _Sam sent. _"If you're going to be up for awhile, do you want to meet up?"_

Blaine found the invitation kind of strange. _"It's 1 AM..."_

_ "So. Let's sneak out and go to Denny's." _Sam said. _"I really can't even sit still right now." _

Blaine took his time considering it. He realized that the idea of running out to meet a boy in the middle of the night really appealed to him, even if it was his best friend's ex boyfriend, and that there was absolutely nothing romantic about it. It still seemed adventurous, and the excitement of the request had him momentarily forgetting that he he was angry. Instead, he was thinking about the fact that he'd never changed out of his Dalton slacks and button-down, and should probably change if he was going to meet Sam.

_"Let's do it," _He said back to his friend, then rose from his chair, quickly rushing to his closet.

* * *

It seemed that both of the boys had the same idea. They were both dressed in sweats. Sam, because that's what he'd been wearing all day, and Blaine because that's what he wanted Sam to believe he'd been wearing when he was invited out.

They sat at a table for two in the unpopulated restaurant. Blaine was working on a stack of pancakes while Sam was eating a simple meal of eggs and bacon. Both of them had consumed at least two cups of coffee already, and the buzz from that made them forget that it was approaching 2 AM.

For the most part, they had been eating in silence. Occasionally, one of them would randomly think of something else that Kurt did that annoyed them, and they'd talk about it for a few short moments before going back to their food.

"You know, sometimes... it didn't even feel like we _got _each other, you know?" Sam said through a mouthful of toast. "Like. I hated about ninety percent of the movies he made me watch, and when I pointed out that Princess Leia was in 'When Harry Met Sally', do you know what he said? He said 'Oh really? which one is she'?"

"Wait...seriously?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah. And he would have recognized her if he _paid_ attention when I made him watch 'Star Wars'." Sam rambled on. "He was flipping through 'Vogue' the whole time...Afterwards, I asked him if he wanted to see 'Empire Strikes Back' and he was all 'I'm good'..."

"That's not okay," Blaine lent his support. "Sometimes I feel like gay guys think they're not allowed to like Star Wars."

"But you like it, right?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I still use my Ewok bed sheets on occasion..." Blaine admitted. "But don't tell Kurt. He thinks I'm too classy for that."

"That's another problem with him!" Sam cried. "He thinks you're just this perfect friend who has all the same interests as him... just like he thinks all I am is a hot jock who wants to pamper him. He was so caught up in me being his boyfriend that nothing else seemed to matter... if that makes sense."

"No. It makes perfect sense." Blaine nodded. "I feel bad talking about him like this, because he's my best friend, but... it's nice..."

"...To know you're not the only one who feels that way?" Sam finished his sentence.

Blaine nodded. "So it's understood that anything we say about Kurt stays between us?"

"Yeah, totally." Sam said. He reached for his coffee cup. "What he doesn't know can't hurt him."


	6. Chapter 6

When Sam woke up the next morning, he had absolutely no idea where he was. He sat up, untangling his sweaty legs from a web of random sheets. He ran a hand through his hair, sitting up and looking around.

Beside him, Blaine was still out cold. He slept flat on his back, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. He'd kicked all of his blankets off.

The two of them had fallen asleep watching Nick at Nite, and the TV was now playing a rerun of "Spongebob Squarepants". Sam rolled on his side, angling himself toward the flat screen. It was an episode he'd watched as a kid; the one where Spongebob and Patrick miss their bus stop and end up in a town called Rock Bottom, where everything is horribly screwed up. He chuckled as Spongebob tried to communicate with one of the incoherent creatures. Some comedy was ageless.

Blaine woke up toward the end of the show, but Sam was too engrossed to notice.

"Are you watching Spongebob?" Blaine chuckled sleepily, sitting up and stretching.

Sam looked over and gave the smaller boy a goofy grin. "It was on when I woke up..."

"I guess we fell asleep," Blaine realized. "I'm sorry. Next time you stay over, I'll make up the guest bed for you."

Sam nodded awkwardly, not sure how to respond. "I'm sorry. I didn't kick you or anything, did I?"

"No, not at all," Blaine told him quickly. "Actually, you respected the boundaries of platonic bed sharing quite nicely... Did I kick you? I've never shared a bed with anyone before."

Sam couldn't help but smile. It was adorable how innocent Blaine seemed. "No. You were good."

A panicked expression suddenly came over Sam's face, and he looked over to Blaine's nightstand, at the clock that sat on top of it.

"You okay?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Sam said, relaxing a bit. "We have a rehearsal for 'West Side' at eleven. I thought maybe I'd slept in."

"I'll take you." Blaine said automatically. "I mean, unless you want me to take you home right now. You can try to shower and change first."

Sam shook his head quickly. "It's fine. I didn't sweat much yesterday."

Blaine gave a sympathetic smile. "You're going to have to shower eventually. Even if it means seeing him. Aren't you going to see him at rehearsal anyway?"

"I guess..." Sam said uncomfortably. "I just want to put it off for as long as possible."

Blaine nodded. "You can stay here as many nights as you want." He offered sincerely, his heart beating a little faster as he thought about waking up to Sam every morning. It was a strange feeling, and did his best to bury it as soon as it happened.

Sam smiled. "Thanks."

Blaine had to avoid eye contact. He couldn't even handle it. "So..." He said awkwardly. "Do you want some coffee?"

* * *

Sam walked down the dimly lit hall toward the auditorium, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket and his head bowed. He didn't really feel like talking to anyone when all he could think about was the fact that he could come face to face with Kurt at any moment.

"What's up, Trouty Mouth? Doing the walk of shame?"

Sam clenched his teeth as he looked up at Santana, who approached him coolly. "Good morning to you too."

"Same disgusting sweats as yesterday..." She observed smartly. "Don't tell me someone boned you while wearing that..."

"Why would I be wearing pants while someone was boning me?" Sam asked, deadpan.

Santana's face fell. "You know what I mean!"

Before Sam could say anything else, Kurt came flying out of the auditorium, a hand clapped over his mouth. He disappeared into the boys bathroom as quickly as he'd appeared. Sam didn't even have the chance to react to seeing him. Santana laughed meanly as the distinct sound of retching leaked into the hallway.

"He's totally hungover," She grinned. "Kurt got drunk, and you had random sex. This whole 'single' thing is doing wonders for both of you."

Sam glanced toward the bathroom door, his conscience kicking in. He wanted to make sure Kurt was okay. He momentarily forgot all about the Sebastian situation, and could only focus on the idea of Kurt hunched helplessly over the toilet. As he started toward the bathroom, though, Karofsky came out of the auditorium.

"Don't worry," He said, looking Sam straight in the eye. "I got this."

Sam gave Karofsky a quick, grateful smile.

"Since when are those two braiding each other's hair?" Santana asked loudly.

Sam had no idea, and frankly, he didn't care at all. Kurt wasn't his problem anymore, and it was a good feeling.

* * *

_"Could it be? Yes it could. Something's coming; something good..."_

It was like watching someone try to saw a two by four in half with a butter knife. Kurt was trying. By god, he was trying to deliver the best performance he could. He just didn't have the strength. The rest of the cast sat uncomfortably in the audience. His struggle was actually painful to watch.

"Kurt!" Artie cut his lead off mid line. Kurt stood in one spot, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Yeah?" He asked innocently.

"I'm concerned about you..." Artie said simply. "Do you have the flu or something?"

Kurt shook his head quickly, his eyes wide. "I think maybe I'm just dehydrated." He said, as if it were a question.

Mrs. Pillsbury and Coach Beiste eyed each other and nodded, completely buying it.

"Artie, maybe it's time for a lunch break..." Emma suggested.

"Yeah. Maybe." Artie said skeptically, his eyes still on Kurt. He then called out to the rest of the cast. "Everyone be back in an hour!"

Kurt was the first one out of the auditorium doors. He felt horrible, and considered going to the bathroom to barf again, even though he didn't really need to.

"Well, it looks like you had a _lovely _morning..."

Kurt froze as he turned down the hallway and found none other than Sebastian smythe approaching him.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt mumbled, totally confused.

"You told me I could come watch your rehearsal," Sebastian smirked.

"What?" Kurt asked, rubbing his throbbing temples.

"It was last night, on the ride home..." Sebastian sighed. "You said you'd love a sample audience. It seems as though I've missed it, though."

The rest of the cast was beginning to filter out of the auditorium. Everyone cast Sebastian strange looks as they passed him, but no one actually acknowledged him.

"We're just breaking for lunch," Kurt told his new friend.

"Good. I'll buy you something greasy. Come on." Sebastian told him firmly.

"I'm not hungry."

"You're actually very hungry," Sebastian insisted. "Only you don't realize it."

Kurt groaned. He walked over to the nearest locker and leaned against it. "I never want to feel like this again."

Sebastian followed him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. " Are you gonna come to lunch with me or not?"

Kurt took a moment to mull it over, although his head wasn't really in the best place. He looked over his shoulder and noticed Sam and Mike walking down the hall, about the pass them. Sam seemed like he was making a tremendous effort not to look at them.

"Come on, Hummel. If you pass out during Act Two, I'm going to feel personally responsible."

And so, the two of them ended up at Arby's, a couple of roast beef sandwiches and a mess of curly fries in front of them. Once Kurt got a hold of the food, he realized that Sebastian had been right. He was hungry. He felt better the second he had some food in him. Sebastian ate slowly, watching Kurt with amusement.

Once Kurt had finished his sandwich, and was washing it down with a long slurp from his coke, Sebastian was just sitting there, wearing a dry look of amazement.

"What?" Kurt asked self consciously.

"I like you," Sebastian said simply.

Kurt glanced around. "Thank you...?"

"Look, Hummel. When I want something, I don't mess around."

Kurt straightened up in his seat. "You think I do?"

Sebastian grinned again. "I want to go out with you tonight."

Kurt was suspicious. "To piss off Blaine?"

Sebastian sighed heavily. "I don't give two shits about Santa's little helper." He insisted, bored. "At this particular moment in time, I only give shits about you. I mean it: I like you."

"You mean...you _like _me, like me?" Kurt asked, surprised.

"What did you think I meant?" Sebastian asked, half laughing.

Kurt laughed wildly. Sebastian's face didn't change. "Sebastian, I admire your confidence, but I can't go out with you."

"Give me two good reasons," The other boy challenged him. "And don't tell me that it would upset Blaine, because that sure as hell didn't stop you from partying with me last night."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "I know what kind of guy you are. I needed a distraction last night, and you were perfect for that, but I'm not going to date you."

"Technically, we're on a date right now," Sebastian claimed. "I paid. You're getting to know me a little better..."

"You paid because you have deep pockets," Kurt said smartly. "I don't feel bad taking anything from you."

"Blaine has money. Would you let him pay for you?"

"That's different. Blaine and I are friends."

"Exactly," Sebastian said victoriously. "You see, you wouldn't have let me buy you drinks if you weren't the slightest bit interested in me."

"You didn't exactly give me a chance to say no..."

"Admit it: You enjoy our heated banter as much as I do," Sebastian shrugged. Kurt couldn't help but grin. "If you had really wanted to leave the club last night with your wingman, Fred Flintstone, you would have."

"Okay," Kurt said rigidly. "There might be some truth to that..."

"...And you say you were just looking for something to distract you from the tragedy that was your break up. I'm honestly okay with that, because I understand that it doesn't mean nothing could amount from this? You'll have to get over him eventually, right?"

Kurt sized Sebastian up. "You're really not giving up, are you?"

"How could I..." Sebastian wondered cheekily. "...when you're so dangerously close to giving in?"

Kurt could barely contain his laughter. Sebastian's energy was intoxicating. Kurt couldn't help but feel excited about Sebastian's unadulterated confidence. It was something new, and Kurt desperately needed something new in his life.

"You do a good job," Kurt observed out loud.

"Doing what?"`

"Distracting me..." Kurt nodded. "I might as well give you a chance."

"So, you'll go out with me tonight?" Sebastian asked to confirm.

"Why not?"

* * *

"...And then they just left together!" Sam shouted angrily, pacing around Blaine's bedroom floor.

"Whoa...like... did Kurt even come back to rehearsal?" Blaine inquired, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Well... Yeah..." Sam shrugged. "He did... but that's not the point. He hasn't even _talked_ to you about hanging out with Sebastian."

"Okay, Sam." Blaine responded sheepishly. "You can stop pretending that you're mad about this for my sake. I don't care."

"Well, I am, mostly," Sam tried. "I mean, you're the reason we know that Sebastian's a bad guy."

"I know..." Blaine said doubtfully. "I just think that if you told Kurt you wanted to get back together, he'd forget about Sebastian."

"I do _not _want to get back together with him!" Sam laughed out loud.

"I'm just saying," Blaine shrugged, hugging himself a bit. "It seems like you're really jealous, and if you're having regrets, now would be the time to address them."

Sam shook his head, frustrated. "You don't get it."

"...because I've never been in a relationship." Blaine agreed quietly.

This only frustrated Sam more. "Look: that's not what I said. You just...don't."

The two of them were silent for a long moment.

"Maybe we should watch some more TV..." Sam suggested. "Maybe the mature thing to do would be to let this go."

Blaine nodded. "I'm fine. Whatever you want to do..."

Sam dropped onto the bed next to Blaine, letting out a heavy breath. "I'm sorry. This whole situation is just... really dumb."

Blaine's heart went out to Sam, he turned to the other boy, resting a hand gently on his shoulder. He tried to ignore the wave of electricity he felt from touching Sam. It was probably nothing.

"Kurt might not be as bad as Sebastian... but I could see how the two of them would understand each other..." Blaine continued before he really knew where he was going. "You... Sam... you need someone who understands you. You know, who watches the same movies as you, and who likes that you help people...Someone you can really talk to."

As soon as Blaine said it, he wished he hadn't. He hadn't necessarily meant to infer that he, himself, was a better option for Sam. Sam glanced awkwardly at Blaine, who pulled his hand off Sam's shoulder immediately.

"Is Nick at Nite okay?" Blaine asked quickly, scrambling for his remote.

"Yeah..." Sam said strangely. "That's perfect."

* * *

"So there I am, fourteen-years-old, standing outside this club, wearing a denim jacket and the absolute worst mesh tank-top you've ever seen," Sebastian sat up straight, gesturing enthusiastically as he spoke. Across from him, Kurt leaned back in his chair, his legs crossed, relaxed.

"I was still playing paper dolls when I was fourteen," Kurt told him.

"Things are different in Europe." Sebastian tried.

Kurt shook his head in disbelief, chuckling lightly.

"Okay..." Sebastian continued, chuckling himself. "Maybe not that different."

"Whatever." Kurt dismissed, waving a hand loosely in the air. "So, you're standing there dressed like a chorus member in 'Rent'. Then what?"

"This _guy..."_ Sebastian laughed, pausing to clear his throat, possibly for dramatic effect. "...He had to be about forty, comes up to me and asks me, in French, how much it would cost him to suck my nipples."

"No!" Kurt cackled, slapping the top of the table.

Sebastian smiled smugly, taking a sip from his water glass. He waited for Kurt to finish laughing, then said, "I like to think I've learned a bit about fashion since then."

"Yes," Kurt replied cutely. "Time has worked wonders on you."

"Anyway," Sebastian sighed. "I was alone. They wouldn't let me into the club, because I was clearly pubescent. It was about four blocks to the town house, and it was freezing, so my nipples were rock hard."

Kurt suppressed a snort.

"And I understand why this man may have mistaken me for some twink hustler, but that didn't make the situation any less terrifying..." Sebastian sighed. "So, naturally, I pretended that I didn't speak a word of French. I obnoxiously asked him where the nearest Starbucks was, and kept repeating myself until he walked away. I just sort of stumbled home after that, and I didn't try clubbing again until after my next growth spurt. I just wish I'd had more time to enjoy Paris before we came back. Scandals doesn't really hold up next to some of the places I've been."

"Why'd you guys move again?" Kurt asked. It amazed him how much he was enjoying Sebastian's stories.

Sebastian sighed. "Mom decided she didn't want to be away from my dad anymore. I had thought they were getting divorced, but I guess all they needed was a two year trial separation."

"Oh," Kurt nodded. "Well that's good. They got back together."

"Yes. Prying me away from my one true love in the process..."

"You had a boyfriend?" Kurt's eyebrows shot up. Sebastian didn't seem like the type to have had a monogamous relationship.

"No," Sebastian shot down the idea quickly. "I loved Paris. Everything about it."

"Okay, Cole Porter." Kurt teased.

"You haven't been there, have you?"

Kurt laughed out loud, as if it was the most ridiculous question he had ever been asked. "I've been to... Sandusky. Detroit once, for an auto show. We went to New York for nationals last year, and that was the first time I'd ever even flown."

"It's cute," Sebastian smirked. "You really are just a wholesome country boy, starved for adventure." He wiggled his eyebrows, amusing himself.

"Careful there," Kurt pointed at him. "This isn't some harlequin romance."

"But don't tell me this isn't perfect," Sebastian continued dryly. Kurt could tell that even he took what he was saying with a grain of salt. "You break away from your monotonous, unsatisfactory relationship and meet a guy who has the power to make your wildest dreams come true."

Kurt laughed, rolling his eyes and reaching for his water glass. "Where are you coming up with this?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I watch a lot of TV movies."

"I bet you do," Kurt chuckled. "Now, tell me: In any of those movies, does the main character end up with the charming yet arrogant rich guy? Because from what I've seen, he's usually the one getting left at the alter in the end."

"Who says you're the main character?" Sebastian challenged him. "It could be me. You're just some plot device who'll put everything into perspective and make me realize that I don't need my inheritance to be happy."

"Well," Kurt responded with a hint of sass. "If you think I'm someone who will convince you to turn down your inheritance, then I'm not the counterpart you're looking for."

Sebastian laughed. He leaned back a bit, sizing Kurt up. "I can't even handle you..." He said softly, staring Kurt down. Kurt suddenly felt nervous again. Everything Sebastian said, he said it with confidence. It was a little disconcerting; Kurt never knew what Sebastian actually meant. He was difficult to read.

"How long you think it'll be before our food gets here?" Kurt asked, his voice rising in pitch as he craned his neck to get a good look around the restaurant.

Sebastian let out a light laugh. "Not long, I'm sure."

Kurt nodded. "Okay. Good." He settled back into his seat.

"So, do you regret doing this?" Sebastian asked him after a brief but weighted pause.

Kurt answered honestly, letting his guard down. "No, I don't," He told Sebastian. "Not even kind of."


	7. Chapter 7

Kurt paced around Sebastian's den. Something about the situation felt supremely wrong. He was in Sebastian Symthe's house; just a casual visitor. It had been a week since their date, and they had talked every day since. Their conversations hadn't been anything substantial. They mostly just sent flirty texts to one another and joked around. Even though Kurt still had a lot to learn about Sebastian, though, he already knew one important thing: he really liked him. He liked his sense of humor. He liked the way he conducted himself. And even though he'd moved on quickly from Sam, he didn't feel like he was rebounding. There was no way Sebastian could "replace" Sam, because the two of them were just too different. The relationships Kurt had with them were too different. Sebastian was just... something new.

Kurt stopped in front of some abstract painting that hung on the wall. He didn't understand it at all, but he assumed that it was expensive; that everything in the Smythe's prairie style mansion was expensive.

"Appreciating the art?" Sebastian came back into the den, two mugs of coffee in his hands.

"I'm definitely noticing it..." Kurt told Sebastian, turning to face him with a cute, one-shouldered shrug. "I think I might be too much of a peasant to appreciate it, though."

Sebastian laughed, and approached the couch. He set the mugs on the coffee table, lowering himself onto the cushions. Kurt went over to join him.

"Your house is amazing," Said Kurt. Then, going with is gut, "Is it...?" He cut himself off, feeling kind of stupid. "...Never mind."

Sebastian seemed amused. "What?"

Kurt sighed. "It's just...a unique style. I was wondering if it was a Frank Lloyd Wright."

"Were you, now?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt's face heated up. "It's just that I knew he had designed a house in this area, and this one has certain trademark features. Honestly, I just don't believe any one else would have built a house like this in Ohio."

"You are relentless..." Sebastian's smile was full blown now. "You just won't stop trying to impress me."

"Well, obviously you're trying to impress me too," Kurt quipped back, gradually regaining his confidence. "Otherwise you wouldn't have brought be back to your palace."

"Hey. This _palace_ belongs to my mother and my father," Sebastian said defensively. "I hold essentially no stock in the place. As for the man who designed it... okay, it _was_ Frank Lloyd Wright."

Kurt had to keep himself from squealing. "I knew it!" He said. "I have such an eye for these things."

"Are you actually into architecture?" Sebastian asked. "Here, I thought you were all about fashion and musical theatre."

"I mean, I could never _be_ an architect," Kurt admitted. "But I can appreciate the aesthetics of a house built well."

"That's awesome," Sebastian praised him.

"I'm guessing you're into architecture too?" Kurt took a wild guess.

"Honestly?" Sebastian continued bashfully. "Yes. Buildings are kind of my world."

Kurt was enchanted by the way Sebastian was coming alive. "Well, this is surprising" He said smartly. "Here, I thought your only interests were A Capella music and making Blaine Anderson cry."

Sebastian's smile wavered. "Has he really cried because of me?"

Kurt didn't respond. He shouldn't have brought up Blaine at all. Sebastian nervously shook off the comment.

"It's just such an amazing art form." Sebastian explained. "You have to consider aesthetics, like you said, but there's also this mathematical aspect, and you have to think about function...It's... I don't know... intellectually stimulating."

Kurt was beginning to feel a little light headed. "That's... beautiful. I've never thought of it like that."

"But you've thought of it," Sebastian said lightly. "I've never met anyone my age who knows the trademarks of Frank Lloyd Wright."

"I suppose you just got lucky," Kurt replied. "Architecture's your passion, and your parents buy a house designed by _the _greatest American architect? They must really love you."

"How do you think I found my passion?" Sebastian shrugged. "My father used to take me on architectural tours of every city we visited."

"Of course," Kurt smiled. He locked eyes with the other boy. His heart was racing, although he couldn't quite explain why. "You live a charmed life, Sebastian Smythe."

Sebastian's grin fell. He shrugged. "Not quite charmed enough."

Kurt swallowed. "Something's missing, eh?"

Sebastian nodded weakly. He leaned in and pressed his lips against Kurt's. It was a slow, innocent kiss. He didn't want to push it.

They broke apart. It took a moment for Kurt's eyes to flutter back open. Sebastian watched him expectantly. It was his turn to decide whether or not this was going to continue.

Kurt scooted down the cushion. He took Sebastian's face in his hand, taking a moment to examine Sebastian's expression. He seemed nervous, but so eager. Kurt had never seen him like this before, and he wanted to really take it in.

Sebastian breathed deeply, closing his eyes. Kurt leaned in, kissing him back. This time it was more intense. Kurt gradually moved closer to Sebastian, who placed his hands on Kurt's shoulders, running his hands down his biceps. Kurt slowly leaned back, pulling Sebastian onto the couch with him. Sebastian went eagerly along with it, and began planting kisses on Kurt's neck. A rough breath escaped Kurt's lips as Sebastian increased his intensity, sucking harder on Kurt's nape.

"Sebastian..." He tried, feeling himself getting hard. He wanted to tell Sebastian to stop; that he didn't want to go home with bruises. However, his language skills seemed to be diminishing.

Sebastian eventually stopped and lifted his head up, looking at Kurt. "What? Do you want to slow down?" He asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"I..." Kurt was glad Sebastian had suggested it. He wasn't really thinking straight. He had _just _broken up with Sam, hadn't he? But Sebastian was there, and so hot, and so good at what he was doing. "No. Fast is good."

He pulled Sebastian back down and kissed him on the mouth again.

* * *

Kurt's car door slammed, as he slid tiredly into his driver's seat. He caught a glimpse of the goofy smile on his face through his rearview mirror. He and Sebastian had messed around for a while, before looking through some coffee table books about Eastern European Cathedrals, which eventually lead to them messing around some more.

It was strange to Kurt. Being with Sebastian was so different than being with Sam. Clearly, he didn't know the true extent of the difference yet, since he and Sebastian had barely gotten to second base (even with their agreement to go "fast", things just handed progressed to the point where either of them were comfortable going any further). The chemistry there was completely unique.

Kurt buckled his seat belt and put his keys in his ignition, pulling out of the driveway, and reflecting on everything that had happened to him in the last six months.

He remembered there was a period where everything felt up in the air. He walked around constantly feeling like he was going to cry. For a while, he didn't know where or when Sam's parents were going to find work. He felt like after years of waiting to fall in love, he was going to loose it as quickly as it had come to him.

The first time they fooled around was one night toward the end of May. Burt and Carole had gone to bed. Finn was out, and Kurt and Sam were on the Hudson-Hummel's screened-in porch, huddled up together under a big fleece blanket on one of Carole's cushioned wicker love seats. The air was cool and damp, and Kurt could swear that dew was beginning to settling on his skin. As it approached eleven thirty, Sam kept insisting that it was almost curfew and that he needed to go back to the motel. Every time he mentioned leaving, Kurt held him a little tighter, and Sam didn't resist.

As they kissed, Kurt felt like the moment they stopped was the moment they would be disconnected. He ran his hands all over Sam's chiseled body, wishing he could merge completely with him so there was no physical way anyone could ever separate them. He wanted to be as close to him as humanly possible. His stomach was in his throat as he made the first move, slipping his cold fingers down the back of Sam's Levis and feeling his warm, soft flesh. Sam responded by yanking at Kurt's shirt. Before they knew it, all of their clothes were coming off.

Kurt realized after Sam had been living with his family for a while, that he begun to associate sex with fear. He had somehow convinced himself that if he was sleeping with Sam, nothing could ever happen to them. The only way to erase any uncertainty he felt in regards to their relationship was to have an orgasm. He knew it was weird logic, but it was how he lived.

With Sebastian, the idea of sex was simple. They enjoyed each other socially, and now they wanted to enjoy each other physically. Kurt's emotions still ran high, and it was still completely terrifying, but in a much better way. It was almost a relief for Kurt to realize that he could feel happy while kissing someone.

Liking Sebastian had happened so naturally. Kurt felt like they had been talking for a year, even though it had only been a matter of days. Being with Sebastian was just... right. As Kurt drove, though, he realized that there was only one problem.

"I need to talk to you," He said the moment Blaine opened his front door.

"I know," Blaine said blankly. "You said that on the phone."

Kurt let himself in. "You know how much your friendship means to me, Blaine."

"Mhm..."

"And that's why I can't lie to you..." Kurt realized he just had to get it out. "I've been seeing Sebastian."

"I know." Blaine said, frowning. "Sam told me."

"Sam knows?" Kurt asked, dumbfounded.

"Of course Sam knows!" Blaine scoffed. "It's not like you kept it a secret. And for the record, it would have been classier for you to wait more than two seconds before finding a new boyfriend..."

"Sam broke up with _me_!" Kurt reminded Blaine. "Even if it had been the other way around, it's over, and I don't owe him anything!"

"But _honestly _Kurt! Sebastian!?" Blaine cried. "You know what kind of guy he is!"

"So he blew a guy in the Dalton locker room?!" Kurt cried. "So what?"

"It was the bathroom." Blaine snapped back. "Which is so much worse."

"Everyone does stupid things in high school." Kurt tried.

"He tried to ruin my life!" Blaine cried.

"And you don't think I ever tried to ruin Rachel's?" Kurt shrugged. "Everything turned out alright with us. You could at least try to like Sebastian."

"But you know what the worst part is?" Blaine asked, choking back tears. "It's that I knew what you were going to come here to tell me tonight. I knew that there wasn't any other reason you'd come to talk to me."

"I owed you the truth..."

"You shut me out when he was messing with me, and now that he's your new plaything, you suddenly want to talk about him? No, Kurt, that's not how a friendship works!"

"Blaine, come on!" Kurt cried, concerned.

"No!" Blaine wailed. "No. I won't. I don't want to be friends with someone so self absorbed. I don't want to feel like I'm not allowed to need you."

"You don't want to be my friend? What is this, second grade?" Kurt asked cynically.

"You do fine without me, Kurt." Blaine shrugged. "And if there's one thing I've learned over the past two weeks, it's that I do fine without you."

"You don't mean that..." Kurt said stiffly.

Blaine shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "Can you leave now?"

Kurt stared at Blaine sadly, hoping that he would crack and say that the whole display was a joke. But Blaine just stood there, glaring at a spot on the carpet, shaking as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Fine," Kurt said quietly. "I hope you have a nice life."

Her turned and walked out of Blaine's house, slamming the door behind him.

When he got home, Finn and Sam were in the kitchen, laughing about something and making sandwiches. Although Sam was sleeping over at Blaine's house more and more often, the Hudson-Hummel residence was still his home base. Kurt was silent as he entered the room. He wanted to see if Sam would talk first. He didn't.

"Why did you tell Blaine about Sebastian?" He asked, without introducing the topic.

"What's going on with Sebastian?" Finn asked, clueless.

Sam laughed to himself, still not looking up at Kurt. "I'm sorry. Was it a secret?"

"You're an asshole," Kurt snapped at him.

Sam grabbed his plate and started toward the kitchen door. "Come on, Finn."

Finn looked intrigued, and slightly amused. He shot Kurt a quizzical look as he followed Sam out of the room. Kurt fell into the nearest kitchen chair and yanked off his shoes. As he tossed them onto the floor, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

It was a text from Sebastian: _"Would it be incredibly lame to ask to see you tomorrow?"_

Kurt felt a smile come over his face. _"No. Not lame at all."_

* * *

Blaine sat up in bed, his bare feet poking out from the end of his comforter. As "The Dick Van Dyke Show" played on his TV, he slurped the sweetened leftover milk from the bowl of Lucky Charms he'd just finished. Suddenly, his phone started to ring on his nightstand. He smiled as he reached over to pick it up, knowing who it would be before he even had to answer.

"Hey," He said to Sam. "What are you doing?"

"I'm bored out of my mind..."

"Come over," Blaine said, as if were completely obvious what Sam should do.

Sam hesitated. "I need to do homework,"

Blaine couldn't stop smiling. Sam was so cute when he was unproductive. "Then do homework!" He tried.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Watching Dick Van Dyke."

Sam sighed heavily, not responding.

"What?" Blaine laughed at him.

"Kurt and I used to watch that," Sam explained lamely.

"So? Kurt and _I _have watched it too..." Blaine admitted. "But I like it too much to let the association bother me."

"Are you two fighting or something?" Sam wondered casually. "He said you guys talked about Sebastian last night."

Blaine hesitated. "Yeah..."

"Wow." Sam said in return. "How did that go?"

"It's not a big deal," Blaine said, his voice strained. "I just told him I didn't want to be his friend anymore."

Sam was quiet for a moment. Then, "Dude... what?"

"Look: I _know _that it's a second grade thing to say. I just can't deal with his crap..."

"No! Dude! It's awesome!" Sam cried. "Way to stand up for yourself!"

"Stop it," Blaine said bashfully. "It's so _not_ awesome. I'm just creating a bunch of drama..."

"Are you kidding?" Sam was getting way too excited. "This is the end of the drama! The two of us can just live our lives. We don't have to worry about Kurt at all anymore!"

Blaine laughed nervously. "What? Were we worrying about Kurt before?"

"You know what I mean..." Sam said dismissively.

No. Blaine didn't. "Yeah..." He mumbled.

"I just... really need to take a study break," Sam said restlessly after that. "Seriously. What should we do today?"

Blaine's felt his cheeks go hot at the thought of he and Sam being a "we". And with Sam so excited about Kurt being out of the picture, Blaine wondered if maybe a simple romance was in their future.

"I don't know..." Blaine said, working hard to sound like he was keeping himself composed. "I think we should do something fun."

* * *

"Okay... I got one," Sebastian said quickly. He and Kurt were sitting cross-legged across from one another on floor of the Smythe's formal parlor. Beside them, a vinyl copy of the "Wizard of Oz" Soundtrack played on Sebastian's mom's antique record player. "When I was six, this kid I hated was getting all this attention because he had a Charzard pokemon card, so I purposefully spilled my Capri Sun on it and pretended it was an accident."

Kurt cackled. "Okay. I've never done anything that bad."

"I guess I win, then..." Sebastian smiled cheekily.

"Since when was this a competition?" Kurt teased.

"Since I realized I was going to be the winner!" Sebastian retorted. "Whatever. The kid deserved it. I had overheard him telling his friends that I knew all the words to some Shania Twain song. I just couldn't accept that kind of abuse."

"Did you know the lyrics, though?" Kurt asked.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Sebastian responded charmingly.

Kurt rolled his eyes, then paused for a moment. "So you _really_ don't think I'm self absorbed?"

"That depends? Do you want to try to one-up me on the Charzard story?"

Kurt hesitated. "I was a fairly well mannered kid..." Kurt began.

"Mhmm..." Sebastian was waiting.

"But after I got to high school, not so much."

Sebastian was jumping out of his skin. "I'm excited for this."

"Well, you know how my dad got remarried?" Sebastian nodded. "I introduced him to his wife..."

Sebastian cocked his head, a bit confused. "Shut up. So you're one-hundred percent not self absorbed. Why are we even having this conversation?"

"No!" Kurt said quickly. "I did it because I wanted to share a room with her son."

Sebastian burst out laughing. "You're an evil genius. Did you two end up doing the deed, or what?"

Kurt's jaw dropped. "No! I mean, he's my brother now, so, gross!"

"You're not blood related!" Sebastian rationalized. "One of the couples on the first 'Teen Mom' were technically step siblings!"

"The only reason I liked him was because he was nice to me!" Kurt wailed. "I wasn't even that attracted to him! It's not that weird, I promise!"

Sebastian couldn't stop laughing. "I have to see a picture of this guy."

Kurt sighed heavily. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his phone. When he pulled up a picture of Finn, he held it out to Sebastian, his face fell.

"Kurt..." Sebastian said sternly. "Not okay!"

"What?!" Kurt cried. "He's cute...in his own way."

"But you have options." Sebastian stressed. "I mean, you're an eight. This guy is a four."

Kurt blushed, flattered. "Believe me, a year and a half ago I was five inches shorter and thought T-shirts over Oxfords were a good idea."

"That's hard to believe," Sebastian said smoothly. "...Look at you now."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes. Hooking up with the biggest stud in Lima..."

Sebastian smirked, and leaned in to give Kurt a long, rough kiss. He eventually knocked him back onto the rose colored carpet, so that the two of them were horizontal once again. After a few moments of playful kissing, Sebastian stopped. He hovered above Kurt and brushed his hair back with his fingers. Kurt blinked sweetly up at him.

"I never want to treat you like that," He said softly. "...Like we've treated other people..."

"Me neither," Kurt replied gently, lightly playing with Sebastian's sleeve.

"No. I'm serious." Sebastian urged. "I have this disgusting urge to be nice to you and I don't know why."

Kurt chuckled, turning his head and resting his cheek on the carpet.

"Kurt..." Sebastian said softly. Kurt took a deep breath, forcing himself to look Sebastian in the eye again. Sebastian smiled weakly down at him, brushing his hair back one more time before coming in for another kiss. Kurt wrapped his arms around Sebastian's middle and pulled him closer, rolling him onto his side with their legs tangled together.

Kurt decided he could get used to this.

* * *

"This is going to be terrible." Blaine said nervously, tying the laces on the bowling shoes that he had just rented. "I haven't bowled since I was, like, eight. I'm pretty sure there were bumpers."

Sam chuckled. "Do you want to play with bumpers?" He teased.

Blaine shook his head, seeming a little distant as he lifted himself off the hard, plaster bench and made his way to the ball return.

"Okay, man, you need to loosen up!" Sam insisted. "We're supposed to be having fun!"

"We should have gone with Laser Tag..." Blaine sighed. He picked up the lightest ball he could find and made his way toward the lane. He braced himself, then stumbled forward, rolling the ball in what he thought was the direction of the pins. It was in the gutter almost immediately. He turned to Sam sheepishly.

Sam worked hard not to react, but Blaine could tell that he really wanted to laugh.

"Shut up..." Blaine mumbled, going back to the seats. "It's your turn."

"No it's not," Sam broke to Blaine. "You have one more roll. You could still get a spare."

Blaine looked devastated as he went back to the ball return. He hovered over it until his ball appeared. Sam felt bad for him, and went over to help.

"Here," Sam said, taking Blaine by the shoulders and lightly pushing him back to the lane. Sam stood close behind Blaine, holding onto his arm and supporting the weight of Blaine's heavy bowling ball. With his other arm, he held onto Blaine's shoulder. Blaine felt a little dizzy. He could feel Sam's hot breath on his ear. All he could think about was turning around and kissing him. "You want to make sure you're throwing straight." Sam said softly.

"I have trouble doing anything straight..." Blaine said in a low voice. He was embarrassed the moment he said it.

Sam chuckled, and Blaine could feel his chest moving behind him. Sam tightened his grip on Blaine's forearm, and moved it backwards, then forwards. Blaine released the ball and watched it glide down the aisle. Sam didn't let go of Blaine until the ball had knocked down three pins on the edge of the formation.

Blaine turned around to smile at Sam. "Thank you." He said awkwardly, unable to deal with the closeness. "...You're a...fine coach...if I do say so myself."

Sam flashed him a dorky smile. Then, realizing that he was still holding Blaine in his arms, slid away from him.

"Now it's my turn..." Sam said softly.

Sam rolled a spare on his first two frames. In fact, by the end of the game, he had scored a 200, and Blaine had a 53.

"I tried..." Blaine said pleasantly at the end. "I'm just glad it's over."

"What? You mean you don't want to play another game!?" Sam cried, pretending to be shocked.

"Are you in some sort of top secret bowling league that I don't know about?" Blaine asked suspiciously.

"It's not top secret," Sam said. Blaine's jaw dropped playfully as Sam defended himself. "But I haven't gone since I was fifteen! It was back in Tennessee...It was a family thing,"

Blaine shook his head. "You're sneaky."

"I'm sorry," Sam laughed. "I didn't realize I was supposed to disclose that information."

"Well," Blaine sighed. "When you said 'my votes for Bowling', I thought it would be a fair competition."

"It doesn't matter who wins, Blaine," Sam said cheesily. "Just as long as we're spending time together." He put his arm around Blaine, sending a rush of electricity through Blaine's body.

Blaine caught his breath, his cheeks heating up. "Yes. I suppose you're they approached the counter to return their shoes and pay for the games, both of them reached for their wallets. Blaine decided to be bold.

"Let me get this," He told Sam, wanting to be a gentleman, and solidify the possibility that this outing would be interpreted as a date.

Sam looked a little caught off guard. "I can pay my half."

"No," Blaine shook his head. "You deserve a reward for your valiant performance."

Sam's was confused. "Blaine, I really don't..."

Blaine wasn't listening. He handed a wad of bills to the cashier. "For both of us," He said. The cashier nodded, popping open the register and counting out Blaine's change. Blaine took the handful of coins and looked back at Sam, who was blushing now.

"Well, then," Sam said. "I guess the only thing to do now is buy you lunch."

Blaine laughed. "Okay. Wanna swing by McDonald's on our way back to my place."

Sam shook his head. "I don't eat that stuff. I was thinking something nicer. Breadsticks?"

Blaine couldn't believe it. Sam wanted to buy him lunch at a real, sit-down restaurant. What did it mean? Was it _really_ just because he'd payed for Bowling. He couldn't take it.

"Wouldn't that make this seem like a date?" Blaine asked suggestively.

Sam hesitated. "I don't know what this is, Blaine." Sam admitted. "We can figure it out over lunch."


	8. Chapter 8

**This is the second chapter I'm posting today, so if you haven't read in a while, you might want to start with that one. **

* * *

"I wonder if I'd like Pralines by themselves..." Kurt said thoughtfully, licking and ice cream cone as he and Sebastian walked through the mall. It had been three weeks since their first date, and the time they were spending together was only increasing.

"Well, do you like pecans?" Sebastian asked in between spoonfuls of his own mint chocolate chip.

"Hmm?" Kurt asked, his mouth full.

"Pralines are just candied pecans, really..." Sebastian shrugged.

"Yeah, but I feel like Pralines would be too sweet by themselves," Kurt sighed. "Even with the cream acting as a buffer, they're kind of intense."

Sebastian laughed. "Do you not like your ice cream?"

"No!" Kurt replied. "I love my ice cream... How's yours?"

"Delicious..." Sebastian said, making a show of eating another spoonful. "I'll trade you if you want to finish it."

Kurt looked down at his cone. "I've already licked this."

"Please," Sebastian laughed. "We've exchanged germs in much more vulgar ways."

Sebastian took Kurt's wrist and pulled the hand with the cone toward him. He put his mouth around the nub of ice cream and sucked upward, slowly pulling it out of his mouth, then licking his lips with a dark grin. Kurt laughed obscenely and looked away. "You are too ridiculous..." He told the other boy.

"Ridiculously sexy..." Sebastian laughed immaturely. Kurt thrust him the cone and took Sebastian's cup. He got a spoonful of half-melted ice cream and licked it happily. "Is that flavor better?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt nodded. The two of them continued walking, and sebastian continued to offensively lick at his cone. Kurt had to work hard not to find it arousing. "Stop it!" He cried.

"What?" Sebastian laughed. "This is just how I eat ice cream cones!"

"You shouldn't be allowed in public," Kurt said. He couldn't stop laughing.

Sebastian took a few more licks, then gave up and dropped the soggy cone into a trash can as they passed it. Kurt scooped up the last from the cup and did the same. Then, brushing his hands off on his jeans, he looked expectantly at Sebastian.

"So, what now?" He asked.

"I wanted to hit up the Gap," Sebastian told him. "...I'm in the market for some chinos and I need you to tell me which ones make my ass look the best."

Kurt rolled his eyes as Sebastian inched toward him.

"So, I guess my opinion of your ass matters more than the opinion of whatever Sales Lady they have working there..."

Sebastian sighed playfully. "Of course. After all, you're the one who's going to be getting the most use out of it..."

Kurt's mouth hung open. Sebastian winked at him and quickly sauntered off in the direction of the store. Kurt hesitated a moment before following, his mind scrambling to think about anything else but Sebastian's ass. He hated being aroused in public.

He caught up to Sebastian just as they were walking into the Gap. "You're evil," He said quietly, as Sebastian started picking through the men's racks. Suddenly, Kurt was hit by a wave of Deja Vu.

"Wow..." He said without thinking. "I haven't been in this store since..." He trailed off, looking around.

"Since what?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt shook his head, almost dismissing it. Then, he decided there was no harm in recounting his memory. "Blaine brought us here once, when I was at Dalton. We serenaded the junior manager..."

"...And got him fired!" Sebastian finished for him, practically cackling. "Yeah, some of the guys told me. I mean... when I was in the group."

"We all knew it was a bad idea, but none of us had the heart to tell him..." Kurt went on nostalgically. "Poor guy..."

"You guys were already close by then?" Sebastian asked, genuinely curious.

Kurt nodded, grinning kind of ironically. "I admire his boldness that day even more now, looking back. I had the biggest crush on him at the time. But then I didn't. And then he had a crush on me, and... I shouldn't be telling you this. It's not important. We realized we were better as friends."

"Or... as nothing at all," Sebastian said timidly, almost to gently remind Kurt that Blaine wasn't his friend anymore.

Kurt shrugged coldly. "That's his decision."

Sebastian immediately felt bad. "Well, maybe he's changed his mind."

Kurt shook his head. "It doesn't matter..." He'd decided to stay in the moment. "...What matters is finding you some new pants."

Sebastian smiled. "Will you come in the dressing room with me?"

"Absolutely not."

* * *

Blaine stood over the sink in the Dalton Bathroom the following Monday (a different one than he'd caught Sebastian and Jeff in weeks earlier). He finished rinsing the soap off his hands and turned off the water, going over to the paper towel dispenser. As he dried off his hands, the door swung open. Blaine was horrified to see Sebastian walk in. That was the problem with attending a small, private school. He couldn't escape anybody. Blaine fixed his eyes on the floor and sped up his drying process, hoping Sebastian wouldn't try to talk to him.

"You don't have to look so jumpy, little guy," Sebastian said quietly, making his way to the urinals. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Blaine clenched his teeth, balling up the paper towel and going to throw it into the trash. Sebastian peed quickly, zipping up his fly just as Blaine was approaching the bathroom's exit. He turned around.

"Wait!" He called after Blaine.

Blaine knew he didn't have to stay and listen to Sebastian. For some reason unknown to him, though, he turned around.

"What?" He said, purposefully hostile.

"How's Warblers practice going?" Sebastian asked, his voice strained.

"Not great," Blaine snapped back at him. "We had to re stage half our numbers after you bailed on us. We have an odd number of tenors now. Our symmetry was off."

"Couldn't you have called in a replacement?" Sebastian asked, confused.

Blaine sighed, frustrated. "David seems to think no one's good enough, but he won't even hold another auditions...It's stupid..."

"I'm sorry..." Sebastian tried. "For everything. I'm sorry I quit like that."

Blaine laughed meanly, incredulous. "They wouldn't have let you stay if you wanted to."

Sebastian looked at his feet. "I know."

Sebastian seemed so sad; so remorseful. For a moment, Blaine felt a pang of fleeting sympathy for the other boy. He shook his head, wanting to get rid of it as quickly as possible. "Whatever... I have to get to rehearsal."

"Wait!" Sebastian said again.

"What!?" Blaine cried, exasperated.

"You're going to West Side Story, right?" Sebastian asked.

Blaine nodded stubbornly.

"You should say hi to Kurt after the show," Sebastian suggested. "He won't admit it, but I think he really misses you."

This cause something inside Blaine to snap. "Oh, stop it!" He yelled.

Sebastian crossed his arms protectively. "What?"

"You don't get to tell me that you think Kurt misses me!" Blaine told him. "You guys can do whatever you want to together; spend time together; suck each other's dicks, I don't care! But you do _not _get to talk to me about him. Don't you dare!"

"Calm down, Blaine," Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I'm just trying to help Kurt..."

"...help him with his boner..." Blaine mumbled to himself.

"Excuse me?" Sebastian asked.

"Cut the crap, Sebastian," Blaine hissed. "You don't care about him and he doesn't care about you. He's on the rebound and... you're you!"

"You don't know me," Sebastian said weakly.

"I'm sorry," Blaine replied spitefully. "You're right. I'm just going off of my first impression of you. My apologies."

"Okay!" Sebastian gave up. His frankness surprised Blaine. "I was a horrible person to you."

"Yeah!" Blaine agreed.

"Blaine, I was childish," Sebastian shrugged, swallowing a lump in his throat. "I came to this new school, and I had no seniority; no power. I did what I thought I had to do to get ahead. I messed with you because I wanted solos. I messed with Nick and Jeff because I wanted what they had, and I was jealous... and I'm sorry. I'm actually sorry. But now, I'm seeing Kurt, and you need to know that he's not with me to hurt you. We just clicked, Blaine. It couldn't be helped. To be honest, Kurt is the first person I feel _good_ with, and it really sucks that you won't let me do something good for him, like trying to fix the one friendship that I know meant more to him than any other one in his life..."

"Sebastian, that's touching." Blaine retorted cynically. "But you can't fix it. Kurt was a douche long before you came along. But, thank you, you helped call attention to it. In all actuality, you two deserve each other. I wish you two the best. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm still a member of the Warblers, and I have practice."

With that, Blaine exited the bathroom, leaving Sebastian alone. Sebastian went over to the sink and began washing his hands, avoiding looking up at the mirror. He really didn't feel like seeing his own reflection right now.

* * *

Kurt burst into the McKinley hallway, greeted with the thunderous applause of the audience members who had waited after the performance of "West Side Story" for the cast to change out of their costumes. He gave Rachel's hand a squeeze and the two of them took another bow before breaking apart and going to meet their parents.

"You nailed it, son," Burt said, giving Kurt a big hug.

Kurt went to hug Carol next. "Brilliant, Kurt." She cooed. "Truly brilliant."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then backed away to scan the crowd. He beamed uncontrollably when he saw Sebastian standing alone, holding a bouquet of tiger lilies. They'd been together only weeks, and Sebastian was already bringing him flowers. What a prince.

"See you at home?" Kurt said to his Dad, still looking at Sebastian. The other boy finally noticed him, and they locked eyes.

Burt gave Kurt one last pat on the shoulder before taking his wife's hand and heading out to the parking lot.

Kurt moved excitedly toward Sebastian. "Flowers? For me?"

"Oh, were you expecting flowers?" Sebastian asked cheekily. "These are for your Maria. Stunning performance...Where is she?"

Kurt smacked Sebastian on the arm. Sebastian smirked, and handed him over the bouquet. Then, Kurt leaned in and gave him a slow, passionate kiss. There may or may not have been tongue.

When they broke apart, Kurt suddenly remembered that they were in a crowd, and glanced around self consciously. Luckily, no one seemed to be watching them, except maybe Brittany's grandmother, who Kurt could swear winked at him over Brittany's shoulder. He awkwardly looked back at Sebastian.

"So, did you enjoy the performance?"

Sebastian nodded pleasantly. "You died exceptionally well."

Kurt beamed. "Why, thank you."

Sebastian gave him another quick kiss.

Suddenly, Kurt noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a dark, glossy mass of hair that he could recognize any day. He spun around to see the back of Blaine's head moving through the crowd.

"Oh..." Kurt said, realizing that he shouldn't have been surprised to see him. Obviously, he'd come to see Sam in the show. The two of them were friends. Kurt had basically forced them into being friends, hadn't he?

"You should say hi to him," Sebastian suggested.

"He'd say hi to me if he wanted to." Kurt shrugged. "Like I said. It's his decision to ignore me."

Sebastian nodded, not wanting to press any harder. "So, do I get to take you out, or do you have some cast party to go to?"

"It's not until closing night," Kurt told him happily. Then, he thought of something. "Shoot! In all the hype, I left my bag in the dressing room. Do you mind waiting for me for, like, two seconds while I grab it?"

"I'll wait for you for two hours if that's what you want from me," Sebastian said romantically.

"Stop it," Kurt rolled his eyes. "You're creeping me out. I'll be right back."

Kurt moved down the hall with a big smile on his face. He was on such a performance high. Sure, becoming masculine enough to play Tony had been a struggle, but he felt like he'd truly gotten the character down in time for opening night. Performing for an actual audience; being the center of attention; it had bee such a rush. He was so proud of himself. And now, he got to celebrate with a boy he was falling quickly for. Being with Sebastian was like magic. He felt like he could be himself 100%. Even now, just stepping away from him for a moment, hurt him. He couldn't wait to return to him.

Then, suddenly, something distracted him. As he approached the dressing room, he saw something a little way's down the hall. It was Blaine, and like Kurt had expected, he was with Sam. However, he wasn't just praising Sam or giving him a congratulatory pat on the shoulder, like Kurt had expected. He was kissing him.

It was almost in slow motion. The kiss itself was short and innocent. Then, Blaine ruffled Sam's hair and Sam wrapped him in another hug. Kurt felt like he was going to be sick. He quickly got ahold of himself and went to get his back, just like he'd said he was going to do. Then, he returned to Sebastian.

"Is everything okay?" Sebastian asked. "You look kind of pale."

"I'm fine," Kurt lied. "Where are we going tonight?"

* * *

Like Sam and Blaine had planned, they'd discussed their relationship over lunch the day they'd gone bowling.

"I'm not sure how I feel," Sam had told him honestly. "I like you a lot, and I feel like we really get along. I'm just not sure I'm ready..."

"That's totally fine!" Blaine said supportively, although a little part inside of him was dying. "I totally understand."

And so, they finished their pasta, making minimal small talk as they ate. The whole thing was extremely awkward, and both of them were relieved when the check came.

"Look, it's not a date," Blaine said uneasily. "I'll pay for my food. Don't worry about bowling."

"Blaine, come on," Sam said, getting out his wallet. "It's fine. Don't over think it."

But Blaine couldn't help but over think it. Even though Sam was the one who'd turned bowling together into such a... physical... activity, Blaine couldn't help but feel like he was the one who had made a fool out of himself.

"I just... I really appreciate your friendship," Blaine told him. "And I would hate to think that I wrecked everything."

Sam nodded thoughtfully. "Well, then don't think that," He ordered Blaine. "Look: we can go back to your place... watch some TV classics... nothing has to be different!"

Blaine liked the sound of that, although he was apprehensive about it.

They went back to Blaine's bedroom and sat on the bed, side by side, as they'd grown accustomed to. Blaine popped some popcorn and they watched "I Love Lucy".

At one point, Sam rubbed his stomach and adorably said, "I'm so full, don't let me eat any more, okay?"

Blaine nodded, amused, and set the popcorn on the nightstand next to him, so he was blocking it. Ten minutes later, Sam was trying to reach over him to grab a handful of popcorn. Blaine slapped his arm away.

"No!" Blaine laughed. "You told me not to let you eat anymore!"

"I changed my mind," Sam grinned, leaning over Blaine with his whole body. Blaine's hands were pressed against Sam's hard stomach. He could feel the six pack through his shirt, and couldn't even handle it. He shoved Sam off, and wrestled him onto the bed. The bowl of popcorn somehow got knocked off the nightstand onto the floor, but neither of them did anything about it. Blaine had Sam pinned down and Sam playfully wrestled back.

"You said you were full," Blaine continued to tease. Sam tried to grab his shoulders, but Blaine got him by the wrists. Sam was stronger than him, but not strong enough to throw him off completely. "It takes twenty minutes to digest food!" Blaine said breathlessly. Sam laughed, and it was clear that they were both enjoying the game. "I read it in one of my mom's weight loss magazines!"

"Stop it!" Sam wailed, as they smacked at each other's hands. Sam was beginning to roll on his side, enabling him to distance his body from Blaine's. Blaine compulsively straddled Sam, without even thinking about what he was doing. He now had him fully pinned down. Then, Blaine realized that both of them were hard.

Sam was panting. His face had fallen and he looked up at Blaine with this intensity that Blaine had never seen before. Blaine panicked for a moment. He thought at first that he should get off Sam, but something prevented him. Sam wasn't pushing him off. The moment was too heated, and too hot. Neither of them knew how to make themselves stop.

Before Blaine could process anything else, Sam was grabbing him. Sam was kissing him. Sam was grinding on him. He had his hands up Blaine's shirt... and then down the back of his pants. Blaine fumbled to keep up, but he had never been with anyone else. He didn't know what he should do with his hands. He held onto Sam's arms, kissing back and hoping to god that he was doing it right. The kissing only lasted a moment though, then Sam realized what he was doing.

"This isn't okay..." Sam said breathlessly. "I'm not..."

"...ready..." Blaine finished, remembering what they'd talked about only hours earlier.

Sam nodded. His leg was still pressed into Blaine's crotch, though, and it was torturing him.

"I'm...sorry..." Sam said slowly. "I don't know what came over me."

He moved ever so slightly, and the friction made Blaine wince. Sam suddenly realized what he had done.

"Oh man," He said. "Wow, that was a bad move. I don't want to leave you with, like, blue balls..."

"It's fine," Blaine lied. "I'm...fine."

Sam looked at him intensely, then shook his head. He slowly went for the button of his jeans.

"Do you want me to help you?" He asked strangely.

Blaine could barely think straight. "I don't...know..."

Sam hesitated. "Because if you don't think we should..."

Blaine had no words. Sam's fingers were pressed softly into his lower abdomen, and all he could think about now was coming. He reached for Sam's hand, and pushed it over the button. Sam undid Blaine's fly and got his hand around Blaine's cock. Blaine came within the minute.

Sam reached for a box of kleenex on the night stand, and helped Blaine clean himself up. Blaine sat up and buttoned his pants back up, looking a little embarrassed. The two of them sat in silence for the second time that day.

After a moment, Sam got up and started to clean up the popcorn. Blaine awkwardly got off the bed and started to help him. When it was all back in the bowl, Sam stood up.

"I'm going to head out," He told Blaine.

"Yeah..." Blaine said, not knowing what else to say. He knew that if Sam stayed, they would have to talk about what had just happened, and how it contradicted what they'd agreed earlier. So instead, he showed Sam out, and wondered if they'd ever speak again.

Blaine went to bed depressed that night. He decided he hated sex. All kinds of sex. Sex destroyed relationships. He wondered if he would ever be able to have a friendship with a male that wouldn't, at some point, result in an embarrassing crush. He hated himself.

He realized, at around one in the morning, that he was also probably an asshole for not offering to jerk Sam off too. That didn't make the situation any better. He wondered if Sam had even wanted to get jerked off, or if he wasn't even sexually stimulated by Blaine, and was really just doing Blaine a favor by jerking him off. The more Blaine thought about it, the more he wanted to crawl in a hole and die. He barely slept at all that night.

To his surprised, he woke up from a fitful nap around noon the next day to a text from Sam. It said, _"Can we talk? Lima Bean around 4?"_.

As much as Blaine dreaded ever seeing Sam again, he realized that talking could be a good thing. He agreed, and decided he would dress as frumpy as possible to see Sam, to show him that it didn't matter if Sam saw him in a sexual way.

So, Blaine went in old jeans and a hoodie. He gelled his hair, but wore his glasses. Sam looked great, though, and Blaine wondered if he ever even had to put an effort in to looking sexy.

"Hi." Blaine said cordially, sitting down in the seat Sam had saved for him.

Sam smiled warmly at him. "Do you want coffee?" Sam asked.

"I'm not in the mood," Blaine told him. The truth was, he'd already drank about five cups at home, and was afraid of giving himself a stroke.

"Look..." Sam got right down to business. "Yesterday got...intense."

Blaine nodded. He felt completely exposed. All he could think about was the fact that Sam had had his hand around his penis. Sam knew what his penis felt like, and now they were sitting in a coffee house, just chatting. It all felt so wrong to him.

"Blaine, I'm really attracted to you, and I don't think I can just stop spending time with you. I really like you."

Blaine shrugged. "You know, we just need to have better self control..."

"I agree," Sam said. "Look, I never thought I'd say this, but I feel really weird about doing things outside of a relationship."

Suddenly, Blaine felt a wave of relief. "Me too..." He admitted. "Not that I'd know what it was like to do things...inside of a relationship."

"And I still don't think I can have anything serious right off the bat," Sam went on. "But I would like to date you... casually. I just think it would be a good idea to set some boundaries."

Blaine's heart swelled. All of the bad feelings he'd been having were instantly gone. Sam's idea sounded perfect to him. "What kind of boundaries?"

"Well, we can go out," Sam said. "We can pay for each other when we want to... We can hold hands and kiss but we can't... do what we did last night. Not until we're both ready."

"Sam..." Blaine was grinning. "I think that sounds perfect."

Sam nodded. "We'll see where this goes."

Blaine nodded back. "Totally."

* * *

Kurt was shaking as he lowered himself in front of the computer in the Hudson Hummel living room that night. He'd gotten home from his date with Sebastian and Sam was still with Blaine. He knew what he was about to attempt was wrong, but he didn't care. He had so many questions. When had Sam and Blaine gotten together? Were they, like, _together _together? Was anyone ever going to tell him, or had he destroyed any chances of that when he'd gotten with Sebastian?

He went to Facebook, crossing his fingers that Sam would still be logged in. Sam was the only one who ever really used this computer anyway, so Kurt knew it was likely. He inhaled sharply as Sam's home page showed up on his screen.

Sam's relationship status hadn't changed, and neither had Blaine's. Kurt knew that he'd be able to see from his own account if either's had, but part of him was paranoid that they would make the change invisible to him. Next, he checked the place where he knew he could find information: Sam and Blaine's chat conversations.

They hadn't exchanged any recent Facebook words, and Kurt knew it was because they had been spending so much time together in person, and didn't need to. He scrolled up through a series of "Lima Bean at 4?"s, searching for something better. Then, his heart sank. He'd found it, and it was a lot worse than what he'd been expecting to find. There were tons of conversations, most of them from weeks ago, where all Blaine and Sam did was talk about him. The harsh words blended together, so that he wasn't even paying attention to who'd said what.

_"When he offers to do something, it's not because he wants to help. It's because he wants you to know he can do it better than you."_

_ "He gets so high and mighty about leaving Dalton. It's like he's better than me for going back to McKinley."_

_ "It's like he doesn't care that I'm dyslexic, or he wants me to just give up and not even try. Did he expect me to follow him around my whole life just because he's smarter than me?"_

_ "He gets so condescending toward me, just because I'm a virgin."_

Kurt felt that the majority of the accusations were horribly unfair. He checked the dates and realized that some of the messages were before he and Blaine had even stopped speaking. He felt hot tears burning up in his eyes as he clicked out of the window, not willing to see anymore.

He stood up and began to pace around. How could they do this to him? Had their hatred toward him really been what brought them together? After about twenty minutes of wondering, Kurt heard the door open in the kitchen. In a fit of blind range, he followed the noise.

He met Sam in the kitchen.

"Hey, Sam," He snapped through angry tears. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"


End file.
